


Mutant Deviations

by TemporalKnight



Series: Deviations [1]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: F/F, F/M, Transhumanism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2020-10-25 02:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 84
Words: 323,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20716580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TemporalKnight/pseuds/TemporalKnight
Summary: When Taylor Hebert triggered she found herself with no support at all. Neither friends, nor family came to her rescue or even offered pleasant words of comfort. When even her own father didn't show up at the hospital...Taylor knew she'd have to make her own way through life. Getting superpowers was fairly easy. Figuring out how to survive and join a team? That was hard. Especially when one is paranoid and not quite willing to trust...anyone. A little paranoia never hurt anyone when heroing. At least, it hadn't until Taylor found a secret she never should have learned...





	1. Split 01

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try cross-posting this story on Fanfiction as well as SpaceBattles. My username for FF is the same as here, for SB it's 'Slider214'.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Worm. If I did, I would be FAR more productive.

**Split 01**

I shuffled from foot to foot as I rifled through my purse. “Um, you can go ahead,” I mumbled to the freckle-faced, brunette behind me.

“You’ve let five people go ahead already,” the girl replied narrowing her eyes at me.

I fidgeted, grimacing as I held up my bag and tried not to meet her eyes. Looking inconspicuous was apparently a lot harder than I had expected. Maybe I should’ve come in costume. This was stupid. This was so, so stupid. I wasn’t ready for this. I was recon, I was supposed to be recon and intel. I needed a team. What the _hell_ was I doing at a bank in civilian clothes in the middle of the day alone trying to stop a robbery! A robbery that I wasn’t even sure of the exact time of!

“I know, I know, I’m really sorry. I thought I had the check from my grandmother, but I can’t find it! I don’t know where else I could have put it, and I just don’t want to lose my place in line by dropping out entirely to go to the bathroom and search everywhere!” Oh god that was pathetic. Was I always this bad at lying? I thought I had gotten pretty good at lying over the past few months. It was practically necessary to survive at home these days after all.

The girl sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “Look, let me get my stuff deposited then I’ll see if I can help you find your check. You don’t want to be stuck here for another twenty minutes. People will start calling the PRT thinking you’re a villain or something. A stupid villain.”

I felt my face heat up as I nodded back at her. “Th-thanks.” This was not what I needed. Not. At. All. While I let the blush creep up over my face in response to her ‘stupid’ comment, privately I pushed the majority of my emotions into my swarm. They were keeping watch in the rafters and in the corners and in the shadows, and they were _mine_. I’d found, a while ago, that I could shift a lot of my emotional issues over to them when things got bad. It helped to keep me calm most days and it helped to keep me mostly focused on the rest. Like now, when I needed to figure out how to get this Good Samaritan to back off and let me keep my lookout. Maybe I could have one of the bees sting her and then –

The doors flew inward, smashing against the walls with a crash strong enough to shatter the glass. “Everyone stay down and no one gets hurt!” a gruff shout echoed into the room just before a wave of darkness flowed into the bank atrium right on the heels of the mini explosion. I tackled the brunette to the floor as my swarm marked the four people running inside through the darkness. A few bugs for each, not many, nothing anyone would notice, but enough to keep track.

I’d done my homework. There wasn’t _much _on the Undersiders – their profiles were mostly stubs – but there was enough. Grue liked to use darkness to cover the Undersiders’ jobs and that darkness made it near impossible to see, or apparently hear, anything. Impossible for anyone but me since I didn’t rely on sight or hearing. I relying on a different sense altogether. “Stay here!” I hissed to the girl. I had no idea if she could hear me, I could barely hear myself in this dead zone. Man, PHO really undersold how creepy Grue could be! If he wasn’t risking innocents like this I’d be almost impressed with the guy. Darkness generation doesn’t sound fancy on paper, but this was pretty good and very useful. It gave me some ideas on how to use my own swarm if I ever got it large enough one day.

I carefully got to my feet and edged towards the teller’s counter. The one with the scepter – Regent – was tying up the bank workers on the other side. From what my swarm was relaying it seemed like the darkness ended near the counter. That made sense. They’d want to be able to see where they were stealing from after all.

A complication. Nothing I couldn’t work around. The butch girl – Hellhound – was at the back of the bank along with Grue. It was just me, Regent and the blonde in the catsuit. That had to be Tattletale. Nobody on PHO knew exactly what her power was, just that it wasn’t physical, but it was hard hitting. She was dangerous. She was also not carrying a scepter with a taser in it. I didn’t want to use my entire swarm, not yet. Not unless I had to. They took too long to build up. I had to try this the sneaky way first. Let Taylor be the hero here, not some new cape.

I couldn’t afford to reveal myself like that. Not yet. Not until I had backing and support. Or at least _one_ friend to help. I needed a team before I could come onto the scene. Coming out right now, alone, would be tantamount to suicide. The ABB would never have me since I wasn’t Asian, I refused to join the resident Nazis, I’d rather die than let the Merchants take me, the PRT and their Wards could go fuck themselves with a rusty spoon…New Wave wasn’t even on the table. They’d make me reveal myself and I _couldn’t_ do that under _any_ circumstances. Never. No one could know who I was for real under my mask. No one could know that Taylor Hebert had powers. The day the world found out that Taylor had powers was the day that Taylor died. One way or another.

Though if this went really south, as long as my face and powers weren’t put together, I could always try to meet up with Parian and see if I could get a job with her. She made dresses; I could weave her dresses out of spider silk. We’d be awesome together…that was helping people too…right?

Shaking my head, I pulled back some of my emotions from the swarm and refocused. I needed to get back in the moment. That was the danger of shunting too much away, it could lead to my main consciousness focusing on the wrong portion of the problem. I could multitask like no one’s business, but I still had a primary task…usually. At least I had gotten to the edge of the darkness effect while woolgathering. Grabbing the pepper spray from my purse I placed one hand on the counter and vaulted over it. Landing on the other side, I held up the can and managed to tag Regent’s eyeholes on the first spritz.

“Arrg! What the hell you crazy bitch!” the prince swung his scepter frantically towards me, but the bug I had at the top gave me enough notice of the direction he was going that I was able to fall back out of the way of his arc. It went wide and he smashed it into the side of the counter top. I sprang forward again and tackled him to the ground. “Get the hell off of me!”

I ignored his yell and drove my elbow into his stomach rolling free as he wheezed and tried to weakly swing the scepter towards my face again. Coming up to my feet I grinned momentarily. Maybe this wouldn’t be quite so hard after all. Now I just had to take out Tattletale, drop back into the darkness and wait for Grue and Hellhound to pass by and I could knock them out too.

That plan died a fiery death as soon as my mind caught up with my swarmsense. My eyes tracked up and I swallowed hard at the sight of the two larger members glaring at me from the doorway to the back rooms. Grue had his arms crossed and Hellhound was cracking her knuckles with a growl issuing from her throat. “What part of stay down and you won’t get hurt did you not understand?” Grue asked, the mask and the darkness giving his voice an odd reverb effect that would have been very disconcerting. If I couldn’t do the same trick myself through my swarm at least.

“You rob from the gangs, not the people. What the hell are you doing _here_?” I hissed. “People are going to get hurt!”

“Like me,” Regent whined from the ground a few feet away.

“Shut up, Regent,” Tattletale said walking up from the computer she had claimed a few spaces down the line. “Grue, Bitch, deal with the vault, I got this.”

“But the runt attacked us,” Hellhound spat glaring at me. I met her eyes and bared my teeth right back at her.

“Wards will be here in five minutes. Get the damn vault open.” The two larger Undersiders turned and stalked back into the bank. I caught sight of what might have been a Rottweiler in the as well and set some of my swarm onto it before focusing on Tattletale. “So, you wanted to play hero huh? Brave for someone without powers. Or maybe you do have powers and you just are scared to show them off.”

I kept my face impassive and tried to offload more of my emotions into the swarm. “You like to talk. PHO agrees on that. You’re going to get someone hurt by being here.”

“Maybe. It’s kinda what villains do.” She cocked her head to the side, her blond hair falling in a wave around her shoulder and a grin spread over her face. “But I guess you’d know all about that wouldn’t you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Tattletale tapped the side of her head. “Here’s a little secret for you, girl. I’m psychic. And you, you are the daughter of a villain.” I sucked in a breath, some of my control over the swarm slipping and my rage bleeding back into me along with some of the terror I felt whenever I was walking home these days. For an instant I froze, still as one of my mantises.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!” a wild scream echoed in the small atrium as the freckle-faced girl from the line surged forth from the side of the counter, a fire extinguisher in her hand. She swung it wide and nearly managed to deck Tattletale, though the blonde danced backwards before it connected.

I hadn’t even noticed her coming. Dammit, I had made this mistake before! I knew I should’ve marked _everyone_. My swarm was large enough to do it. Why was I falling back into old habits? That was going to be fixed _right the hell now_! With barely a thought, flies descended from the ceiling and surged over everyone remaining in the darkness, taking wing again as soon as everyone was appropriately tagged. I shook myself and tried to push away the panic welling up, only managing a portion of it, but it was enough to get me moving again.

Not one to let an opportunity go, I tried to follow up on the opening the brunette had left and darted in bringing my pepper spray up even as I brought a few bugs down to surreptitiously sting Tattletale on the back of the neck. No venom, but that should be enough to jolt her forward into the spray.

Instead, the girl somehow managed to slip right between the two of us and danced right up next to Regent, rubbing at her neck. She grinned at me. “So, bugs huh? I can see why you’d want to keep that under wraps. Not the most PR friendly power.”

“Shut up!” I growled more of my emotions slipping back in. Dammit this was not a good time. I knew I had a time limit on how long I could keep the shunt up, but I needed to stay focused! “You’re the one robbing a bank in the middle of the day!”

“And so far, you’re the only one who’s actually hurt anyone here, did you realize that? No. Well maybe you should take a moment to consider that. All we’re doing is running off with some insured money, we’re not even taking people’s jewelry. You’re going around macing people, hitting them and setting attack bugs on them. Not very sporting Little Miss Villain. You don’t even have the decency to do it in costume.”

Her words hit me like a slap in the face. She was right, after a fashion. I was the only person who had hurt people. Was I just like him? But…no. No. That was what Tattletale did. She got in your head. She fucked with you until up was down and down was gold. I should’ve taken her out first.

“You’re one to talk!” the girl next to me shouted. She brandished her fire extinguisher with a scowl. “Your group is no better than the Merchants! Just because you don’t look like drugged up psychos doesn’t make you any less accountable for the psychological damage you’re doing by holding these people hostage!”

Tattletale grabbed her heart. “Oh Panacea, I’m hurt!” My head whipped around and my mouth dropped open as I goggled at the brunette for a moment. I’d tackled _Panacea_ to the floor?! “I mean, really, the _Merchants_? You could’ve at least compared me to the E88 or the ABB. Actually, on second thought, I take that back, only the ABB. I’d rather be compared to a druggie than a neo-Nazi. But I digress,” she was grinning again. I considered bringing more bugs down, but I didn’t want to give her more confirmation that she was right about me. I could still salvage this if I was careful about it.

After all, this was not quite a worst-case scenario, but it was close. “If Panacea is here, you know her sister is coming too!” I shouted. “Get the hell out of here right now!”

Tattletale grinned wider. “Grue’s darkness blocks cell reception honey. Glory Girl doesn’t even know we’re here. But we’re not talking about GG, now, we’re talking about you and Amy here and how you two are like peas in a pod.”

“I’m giving you to the count of five,” I growled.

“We both know you won’t do much. You’re too scared to show me I’m right even though you already have and just didn’t realize you screwed up a few moments ago with that big move. How about you Amy? You can stop me pretty easily. You just have to break a few of your rules. Prove to Carol that you are the little monster she thinks of you as. Prove that you are your father’s daughter. Daddy’s Little Villain. All it would take is to make a single little pathogen, one superbug to either kill me or knock me out. Only, you haven’t touched me yet, so you’d have to tailor it to go after the whole of the room and that would just leave you awake or alive now wouldn’t it? You could even blame it on one us if you wanted. Or the new girl here. One of us lost control and that was that. Except Carol would know, she’s always been watching you, waiting for the proof, waiting to know she was right and you weren’t worth taking in, you weren’t worth sheltering. All she needs is that one, little, nugget. But you aren’t going to give her that here today, because you’re just as scared as Miss – ” Tattletale broke off mid-rant and a look of horror crossed her features as she stared at me. “No fucking way…Fuck me…”

I glanced to my side to see how Panacea – Amy? – was handling the fire extinguisher and had to suppress a gasp as I saw her shaking like a leaf beside me. Her skin was pale and her fingers were clenched around the extinguisher so tight they had gone white. “Okay, fine. Fuck this. I’m done. Stand down now, Tattletale.”

“Look, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here,” Tattletale said backing up and holding her hands up as if to ward me off. I stalked forward and ignored the loud crashing rend behind me. “Like you said, I don’t want to be here. But we all take orders from someone right? I didn’t have a choice! Everything I just said was to make sure we had time to get out. We’ll leave, okay, we’ll leave. We’re leaving now. Grue! Bitch! Time to go!”

“Not done here!”

“TIME TO GO! NOW!”

The other two surged out of the back of the bank, the Rottweiler was nowhere to be found but they had replaced the dog with a mutant monster thing half as large as a small car. It broke a large portion of the doorway as it muscled its way out and into the room proper. Grue had already stopped to grab the unconscious Regent and throw him on the back of the dog-thing before looking between me, Panac-Amy, and Tattletale. “Fuck.”

“Glory Girl is probably inbound with the Wards. Time! To! Go!” Tattletale urged. She hopped onto the back of the creature as it grew large enough to fit the four Undersiders. Looking briefly to me, the blonde grimaced and nodded her head. Grue renewed the shroud of his darkness in the atrium and before I could do more than throw a few more bugs on each of them, the thieves were bounding away. I tracked them for almost two blocks before they dropped out of my range and I finally relaxed. The darkness had started to bleed away by then too.

Turning to Amy, I found her sitting on the floor, back against the counter and arms curled around the fire extinguisher. “Hey, hey are you okay?”

“No, not even close to it,” she hiccupped out in between heaving lungfuls of air. She seemed to rouse a bit as her gaze focused in on me and her eyes widened, the fire extinguisher dropping out of her suddenly limp hold. “Cover your face!”

“What?”

“The darkness is fading away! I felt the bugs come down from the ceiling; everyone must have!” Amy shook her head and grabbed for my hands squeezing them tightly as I just continued to stare at her. “You and I are the only two people who fought back. Everyone knows I’m Panacea. It doesn’t take a genius to realize you’re the new cape. Cover yourself! Now!”

My own gaze widened and I gasped. Her words slamming into me like a truck as the last of my emotional shunting slipped it’s bounds and flew back to me from the swarm. I fell backwards onto my ass and squeezed my eyes shut. All of my fliers surged down to me in an instant covering me head to toe. It had the nice side effect of concealing the tears leaking down my face from the other girl. This wasn’t how the day was supposed to go. I was supposed to be able to get in, get out, with nobody the wiser. No one was supposed to know there was a new cape in town. No one was supposed to know that I was even _here_! And now, not only did Tattletale see me without a mask, Panacea did as well, I might be on security cameras, and god only knows how many of the bank patrons would remember the curly, black haired girl that vanished after holding up the line five times just before the villains held up the place!

I curled up into a ball on the floor, the bugs shifting to new positions maintaining the covering layer as I desperately tried to reach for the shunt again and found only my own thoughts in its place. First priority when I got home: work on improving the emotional control. It wasn’t nearly a long enough duration. I needed it indefinitely. I could handle being a robot. I couldn’t handle being a teenage girl when on a job. This wasn’t going to work out long term. Especially without a group to support me. I really needed to go talk with Parian. I wasn’t cut out for this at all. I hadn’t even come in costume!

“Hey, hey it’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” a soft voice cut through my raging thoughts and a hand threaded through my swarm to rest on my shoulder. Amy. It had to be Amy. I could barely focus on what she was saying, it was just too much. “Look, I can…I might be able to help you calm down. Do you…do you want me to help you calm down? I’m sorry, I don’t even know your name.”

“T-Taylor,” I mumbled just loud enough to reach her as she leant over me. My eyes were still screwed shut though I could see well enough through my swarmsense. “I can’t…It’s…I can’t…I pushed too much away for too long. I can’t focus. I can’t breathe. I can’t…Help…”

She was quiet for a moment and her hand shifted to touch my neck. “I think you’re having a panic attack…I don’t like doing this to people, but considering where we are, and that people are starting to stare; I guess you did give me permission. This is going to feel weird. I’m going to mess with your chemical balances for a second to see if I can break the panic attack.”

I bit my lip and nodded. My eyes shot open the next instant as she did _something_ to me and the world jumped back into focus around me. The sheer terror of people finding out who I was, it was still there but it wasn’t beating me around the head anymore and I could deal with the fallout now if there was fallout. Slowly I sat up, Amy’s hand still on my neck. “Thanks. That’s a lot better.”

“You were mostly calm during the robbery. What happened just now?”

“Um, it’s complicated, I’d rather not say here...” I mumbled suddenly very aware that there were still quite a lot of people only twenty feet away from us.

“Oh, right...Sorry, I forget sometimes that not everyone is open to the public like New Wave. I need to keep my hand here for another minute or two. Your adrenal glands and hormones are still going haywire.”

“That’s okay,” I nodded. “Um, about what Tattletale said before...About my father...I know that New Wave is supposed to be really open with things and you basically just confirmed that, but I’m not. I’m really, really, _really_ not. _PLEASE_, don’t say anything. I really need you not to say anything.” It was probably a good thing that Amy was still holding a tight lease on my emotions since that probably would’ve sent me spiraling again until I could offload a bit into the swarm.

Amy got very quiet and I felt her fingers on my neck tense to the point that her nails were digging into my skin. In a voice soft enough I probably wouldn’t have picked it up without the extra oomph from my swarm, she murmured, “You’re not the only one with villain parent issues.”

Before I had a chance to respond, the Glory Girl flew through the shattered remnants of the bank and into the atrium. She paused for a second before her gaze alighted on Amy and me. Rolling her eyes and setting down to the floor, the blonde walked forward towards us. “Man, Ames, you can’t even go to the bank without getting into trouble? So who’s your new girlfriend? She a new recruit for New Wave? The Wards? The Protectorate? A captured villain?”

I blushed though, thankfully, the bugs covered the evidence. Amy had no such luck. “Vicky, shut up. I’m just helping her calm down.”

“Uh huh. And that’s why you were nearly face to face when I flew in huh?” She grinned and hugged her arms around herself making kissing noises. “Come on Ames, admit it! You’re seducing the new girl to poach her before the Wards snap her up! I heard _ALLL_ about it outside.”

“Vicky! Stop!” Amy’s blush had left and in its place was an angry blotch of red spots. The difference was subtle, but considering I tended to have the later dusting my across my own face nearly all of the time for the first month that I had my powers I knew how to spot it.

“It’s cool,” Glory Girl said, dropping her arms but not losing the grin. “I can’t blame you for trying. Not that I would do it. You know I don’t bat for that team. I doubt I’d be able to pretend long enough to make it convincing. So how about it new girl? Has my sister convinced you to join up yet? From the rumors outside, you have some promise. I mean, the Undersiders tore out of here like a bat out of hell. Vista is outside still scratching her head at how fast they left. And no money too! Like wow! So you joining up?”

Amy’s free hand clenched into a fist and her teeth bared for an instant before her entire demeanor seemed to drop off into a near emotionless catatonia. It was almost like how I got when I was fully submerged in the swarm. Now I understood why I could be so disconcerting at school when I bothered to show up…“I don’t even know why I ever started to like you.” Amy’s voice was so quiet, even with the swarm I had to struggle to make out the words. She shook her head and stared at me. This time, her words were clearly meant to be heard, “T-Bug girl. I’m going to take my hand off now. Are you okay for the moment?”

I searched for my shunt and nearly cried in relief as I could reach for it again. “Yeah. I’m cool. Even if I start freaking out again, I got it handled on my end.”

“Okay.” She pulled away from me and stood up dusting off her jeans and turning fully to her sister. The clarity of the world faded slightly though I didn’t devolve back into a new panic attack and I didn’t have to offload anything. I made another mental note on my powers checklist: pushing the shunt until overload, overloaded the returned sensations too. Good to know.

“Glory Girl, please wait outside, I’ll be there in a moment.”

Glory Girl shrugged and nodded. “Sure, whatever. Nice to meet you new girl. Let me know when you come up with a name. We can go on patrols or something together even if you don’t decide to join.”

I nodded and waved at her as she flew back out the doors. She didn’t have to know that I had very little intention of keeping that date. However…maybe that wasn’t the worst idea. I did need backup after all. I was supposed to be the recon. Today had taught me that pretty clearly.

Her sister had barely left the bank before Amy turned to me and shoved a piece of paper into my hand. I stared down at it in confusion and looked back up at the freckle-faced girl in front of me. “My PHO handle and my phone number. We need to talk. About…things. Parents things. And I want to know what the hell is going on with your emotions. That’s not normal and it’s not healthy. We need to talk.”

“Considering how you were breaking down before my freak out, I don’t think you’re one to lecture me about being emotionally healthy,” I said frowning. “But yeah, agreed. I’ll contact you later.”

“Good. I need to…I’m not actually sure what I need to do. I need to think. Get home safe.” She pulled her shoulders up as straight as they could go and turned to march out through the doors.

I waited for a count of ten, then I drew up the swarm and tightened it around myself as I dashed outside. As I slipped away into the crowd, I dispersed the bugs and walked away, just another teenager wandering past yet another crime scene in Brockton Bay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'It Gets Worse' by ack1308. Taylor gets luck powers. EVERY VILLAIN HAS A VERY BAD DAY afterwards! This fic is BEYOND hilarious, I can't overstate how funny and awesome this story is. Taylor basically just fucks up everyone who even looks at her funny and sets things up days in advance to remove every major threat while casually setting up Eidolon and Amy with dates in the meantime too. Seriously, if you like Worm at all, you need to read this fic immediately.


	2. Split 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance and quick turn around on this chapter.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Worm. If I did, I would be FAR more productive.

**Split 02**

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**♦ Topic: A New Thread**  
**In: Boards ► New Cape in the Bay?**  
**Bagrat** (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)  
Posted On Apr 15th 2011:  
Okay so I'm guessing that everyone has seen the reports by now, but in case you haven't here are the links to what we know for sure about the new cape on the scene of the latest action in Brockton Bay:  
  
Video of the cape talking with Panacea: Link  
Video of a swarm of bugs vaguely person shaped leaving the bank and immediately vanishing into thin air: Link  
Blurry photos of the Undersiders all on a single monster thing leaving the scene: Link  
  
Just a quick recap as well for those new to this situation. The cape was either present, triggered, or came to the scene of a robbery almost immediately following the Undersiders arriving on-site. They and Panacea together managed to chase off the team of villains. The cape's name is currently unknown and she didn't stay to speak with the Wards that had arrived either. It's unknown if she's a Hero or a Villain or even an Independent.

**(Showing page 1 of 12)**

**►SpecificProtagonist**  
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
How certain are we that this new cape IS a girl?

**►Reave** (Verified PRT Agent)   
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
She's a girl. Some of the boys spoke with several of the bank customers and they all confirmed that the cape sounded female and that both Glory Girl and Panacea were referring to her as female.

**►Char**  
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
Good. We need more female heroes in the Bay. Or more heroes in general. I wish we knew her name. Does anyone know her name?

**►SpecificProtagonist**  
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
None of the threads have her name yet and GG was apparently fishing for it too. I'm betting she triggered in the bank. Everyone knows that Panacea isn't a fighter. This girl must've stepped up to try to do something, things went bad and she triggered and managed to fight back. Damn...I know there are...worse ways to trigger, but to become a swarm of bugs? We can't even send her a hug...

**►Whitecollar** (Cape Wife)   
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
Become the swarm? Panacea's power works via touch. The new cape would have to have some physical body in order for Panacea to touch her after the attack.  
  
Also, what was with the Undersiders pulling this job to begin with? They've never done anything in broad daylight before and never this high profile.

**►Tin_Mother** (Moderator)   
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
Please let's stay on topic. Don't speculate on the Undersiders in this thread, there's a thread here already for that discussion.  
  
As to the topic, I would agree that while Panacea's power does require touch to function, it's possible the new cape doesn't have a physical body anymore and the two were just in close proximity. None of the videos are high enough quality to tell for sure either way.

**►Brocktonite03** (Veteran Member)   
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
Man, let's hope she has a body. That would be a horrible powerset. Bugs alone is bad enough. BEING bugs? Sucks to be her!

**►SpecificProtagonist**  
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
Even if she is just bugs, she's awesome! The Undersiders managed to shake off Lung the other week after robbing his casino! She scared them off in less than five minutes!  
  
I need to meet her and shake her, err, beetles?

**►Vista** (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)   
Replied On Apr 15th 2011:  
While I understand the urge to flock to a new cape, (I admit I'd love to meet her myself and try to recruit her. We need more girls in the Wards!), everyone needs to remember that we know almost nothing about the girl yet.  
  
All we know for sure is that she foiled the robbery with Panacea's assistance and that she didn't want to wait around to speak with me or Clockblocker. Not that I can blame her of course. Right Clock?

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 10, 11, 12**

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* * *

I rubbed at the bridge of my nose as I pulled back from the computer. So much for lying low. That plan was well and truly shot. I was getting a rather large chuckle at how everyone seemed to be convinced that I was just a swarm of bugs now though. I could probably work with that too as long as I was careful. Only really Amy and Tattletale knew for sure that I was more than the bugs. Maybe the other three Undersiders too. They might hold a grudge, but they didn’t seem the type. All of my research pointed to them as being fairly small time. They weren’t the E88 or the ABB. They just robbed places. If I stayed away from them for a while, I doubted they’d out my secret.

They probably wouldn’t anyway even if I pissed them off. It stepped too close to too many lines.

The computer beeped as another message went off in the thread. I refocused and blushed as SpecificProtagonist apparently started getting rather heated with XxVoid_CowboyxX about what could and could not be done without a body and how much fun could be had with a lot of tiny legs. Hurriedly I shut that topic down and shunted some of my embarrassment into the swarm.

People on PHO were insane.

Once my face had returned to normal, I pulled out the note that Amy had given me and unfolded it. It was only 10am on a Friday. She’d probably be in class. I shouldn’t do this now. I should’ve done this last night. Or never. Never was good. Never was _awesome_.

Pushing more of my fear into the buzzing critters a few blocks down the road, I took a deep breath and flipped up open my phone. My father didn’t know I had it. I’d bought it with my own money and gotten one of those prepaid cards for it. Was it perfect? No, but I could text as much as I wanted and I could call the PRT in an emergency if I needed to. And if this turned out to be a bad idea I could ditch the phone easier than I could ditch the laptop. _That_ had been hard to get my hands on.

At least leeching off the wifi next door was simple thanks to my swarmsense helping with the password.

_Hi, Amy. You said we should meet. Tell me when and where? -Taylor_

I nodded as the message sent. Short and to the point. Perfect. I was flipping the phone closed as it buzzed in my hand. Staring at the screen I gaped for an instant before shaking my head and opening the new message.

_Boardwalk okay? Fugly Bobs? Say an hour? Actually no. Scratch that, not Fugly. There’s an ice cream shop three stores down. Don’t remember the name._

I snorted, one corner of my mouth quirking up as I rolled my eyes.

_I know it_. I sent back. _Shouldn’t you be in school?_

_Shouldn’t you?_

She had me there. _I don’t go very often anymore. I’m technically studying for my GED. Technically. It’s also not official. Can explain later maybe._

Amy apparently didn’t have much problems with my skipping class since she just sent me a shrugging emoji. I didn’t even know how to get to that option on my phone. Did my phone even have that option? _Whatever. Meet you at the ice cream place in an hour_.

Flipping the phone closed, for real this time, I took another breath and reclaimed everything I had sent to the swarm. I was going to have to practice my hold duration, but now was not the time for it. I apparently had to get ready to meet the most well-known healer on the East Coast.

I was going to need to make sure I had as much shunting time saved up as possible. Something told me I was going to need it in an hour.

* * *

I could’ve taken the bus considering I had to get all the way over to the Boardwalk, but it was more productive to walk. I needed to build up the swarm and I couldn’t really do that on the bus. My initial range was too small to grab enough of new critters like that. No, it was better to take a nice power walk and collect all of the spiders and flies and roaches that were hiding out in the homes and side streets along the way. Not that I could actually fully clean out the homes, but hey, people would appreciate it if their front rooms were cleared of bugs, right?

I had most of my swarm making their way along behind me at whatever pace they could manage. None were clustered though and it was easy enough to blend them in with the local critters while still moving with a purpose. I’d been expanding my numbers since January, but I still only had a few tens of thousands of individuals. Spread that out over 8-10 blocks and nobody should be the wiser even when I had my whole shooting gallery at my beck and call in a moment’s notice.

I made good time getting to the ice cream shop and managed to grab a rather rare prize of a hornets’ nest along the way too which was nice. I had so few of those in my swarm and more raw power was always a welcome addition.

“Hey, over here!” I shook off my examination of the newly acquired subjects as Amy’s voice cut through the small crowd in the store. Glancing over, I found she’d claimed a booth at the back of the shop. And apparently had two milkshakes in front of her.

Swallowing my initial terror at that presumption, I forced a smile and walked over to sit across from her. “Hi. Sorry, am I late? I walked, but I thought I was going to make it.” As I settled into the booth, I brought some of the swarm into the store to keep tabs on everyone. Just because we were in an ice cream shop didn’t mean that there couldn’t be capes – or normal people – acting stupid here. Case in point, me.

“No, you’re good. I just got here a little early. I, kinda needed to get away. Slept at my aunt’s last night and Crystal won’t leave me alone asking for details,” Amy murmured. I frowned at the way her hands were wrapped tightly enough around her glass to go white at the knuckles.

“Everything okay?”

“Not really, but that’s not your problem,” Amy said.

I tried to remember how things had been before Sophia Hess, before Mom died, back when I’d had friends and people to talk to. How did this script go again? “Aren’t we here to talk? You could tell me what’s going on and I could, well I probably can’t help since I don’t know you. But I could at least listen.” That wasn’t how things went. Dammit had I really been a social pariah for long enough that I couldn’t even pretend like I knew what I was doing?

Amy gave me a small smile and pushed the second milkshake across to me. “I appreciate that. More than you know, Taylor. But I don’t really feel comfortable discussing all my issues with you if it’s all the same. Like you said, we don’t know each other.”

It was all I could do to avoid sighing in relief. I had enough issues trying to sort out my own emotional problems. I didn’t need to work out a second person’s hang ups at the moment. “Well if you change your mind, you have my phone number now. Just text instead of calling please. I don’t have very many minutes.”

Amy nodded and took a drink of her shake. She pressed a button on the side of the booth, smirking as it lit up. “Tinkertech in these things. The store essentially has anti-eavesdropping audio tech for the booths, that’s why I said to come here.” I whistled appreciatively as I tried to calculate just how bad the expenses involved in that were and raised an eyebrow at the other girl. Amy shrugged. “A lot of their customers are couples, so they play up the ‘privacy’ angle. It gives them enough business to afford the maintenance on the Tinker stuff when it starts to wear down. Okay, so before we get too far off track, am I wrong in assuming you’re not affiliated with anyone yet?”

“You’re not wrong,” I replied, trying the milkshake myself. Amy had good taste; chocolate and mint with malt, the best type of shake. “I’m currently looking for a team. I think I’d be best with recon. While I have some heavy hitters in the swarm, most of the really nasty stuff would probably kill non-Brutes and the rest would hurt bad enough that I would get labeled as a villain off hand. You don’t send bullet ants or fire ants against people and expect to walk away with an Independent Hero tag.”

Amy just stared at me for several long moments. “You have bullet ants in your repertoire?”

Fidgeting in my seat I nodded. “They’re not native. I had to order them online. I only have a few but I was able to get a queen so breeding more is easy. They don’t get to come out to play for a while until the colony is secure. Right now, the worst I can throw at someone around here would be some hornets. And airlifted black widows, but again, that’s a quick way to get a villain label.” I was babbling now. Dammit.

This wasn’t working. I couldn’t do this on my own. It had been too long since I truly interacted with people. I needed help. Reaching out to my swarm, I shunted off my anxiety and my fear leaving a far calmer and easier-to-breath Taylor in place of the sweaty, blushing mess that had been there a moment ago.

Sitting up straighter I smiled and shrugged. “I might be a bit more…morally flexible than some people, but I’m not willing to go full villain and drop black widows or brown recluses on someone who doesn’t heal. Even if you were right around the corner and willing to help out. That’s just mean to everybody.”

Amy’s eyes narrowed and she ran her gaze up and down me as I sipped at my shake. “You’re doing it again aren’t you?”

“Doing what?”

“That thing with your emotions. Like whatever you did at the bank that let you fight fairly well until it cut off and you collapsed into a sobbing heap.”

I blinked. She’d seen me crying. Only Emma had had that privilege in years. Great. “I can push my emotions into my swarm. It blunts things. Makes it easier to handle the moment, easier to focus, easier to deal with the world. It’s…safer.”

“That’s not healthy. You can’t hide from things like that!” Amy hissed.

Anger bled through my calm and I glared back at her. “The only reason you weren’t sobbing right next to me was because you focused on _fixing_ me. That’s not healthy either. That blonde talked to you for less than 30 seconds and now you’re not even staying at your own home? How is your method of ‘dealing with things’ any healthier than mine? Mine keeps me from murdering half of my school. I’m fine thank you very much.”

Amy froze and her eyes went wide. I went back over what I had said a second ago and drew in a sharp breath. “Fuck.” I shunted most of my anger to the swarm as well and shut my eyes as I felt the tension in my shoulders loosen. “Sorry. I just…when I triggered I'd been trapped in a locker for hours, nobody helped, not before, not during, not after. Everyone just…went about their day, knowing I was suffering a few feet away. Only reason I was found was because a janitor decided he didn't like the smell. Even then, I'd have died at the hospital in a coma if…well if not for you apparently.”

“What?” Amy squeaked.

“January. You healed a coma patient with toxic blood syndrome and wounds in her legs and lower abdomen. She had a fever of 103 that wouldn’t go down and her body and organs were shutting down. She’d been there for – ”

“A week…I remember that. They should’ve called me earlier. That girl almost died three times while I tried to heal her…Holy shit, that was _you_?”

“Yeah.”

Amy drained half of her milkshake and clasped her hands around her arms. “The kids at your school, they didn’t help?”

“Winslow doesn’t stand up to Emma and her clique. Even when I came back, afterwards, the school pretended like I got locked in by accident and my classmates just ignored it. Worse, some of the students made it clear they thought I should’ve died in there. I found out why the teachers brushed it under the rug thanks to my powers at least and it just made things worse. I don’t go to school anymore. I’m too worried I’ll go _Carrie_ over them or something.”

“Yeah,” Amy mumbled. “Yeah I can understand that.” Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes as she focused on me. “Wait, what do you mean that you found out why the teachers brushed it away? That’s bullshit! What happened was wrong and the people who did it should be punished! Whatever the reason, the staff can’t get away with pretending like it didn’t happen!”

I smirked and sipped at my milkshake letting some of the anger bleed back into me from the swarm. “My father never came to the hospital beyond signing the paperwork saying they could do whatever they needed to save my life, you know?”

“What? What does that have to do with anything?”

“When I woke up with powers and no dad by my bed, I knew our relationship was broken. He’s been gone for a long time now. Oh, he’s there physically, but I stopped mattering to him a few months after mom died. I thought something like this would bring us together but it just showed me how far apart we were instead.”

Amy frowned completely unable to follow my tangent. That was fine. I had a point and if she wanted to buy me a milkshake and lecture me on emotion control then she was going to damn well listen to my rambling. “I knew if I went back to school I was going to have to cover my own back. If my family wasn’t even going to be at the hospital to pick me up after I nearly died what help would the school board be? So I learned how to control my swarm enough to know where everyone around me was. If Emma and Sophia and Madison couldn’t sneak up on me, then I’d be fine.”

“That…makes sense, I guess,” Amy said hesitantly.

“Except the bugs I kept on Sophia found out something. She tried to break into my things again. They’d assigned me a new locker – like I was _ever_ going to use one again. Sophia got into it without issue. Because she went through the door.”

“She did what? Oh no. No wait, Taylor, are you saying that the person tormenting you was a _cape_?”

“Yup. Not just any cape.” I let more anger bleed back into me and set some of the bugs outside to harass a pickpocket. A blonde who had just walked into the ice cream shop heard the commotion from outside, glanced around the store and apparently decided she didn’t want ice cream anymore since she left in a hurry. I ignored her and the pickpocket and focused back in on Amy. “Shadow fucking Stalker. Ward. The psycho who tried to kill me and corrupted my best friend into a monster is none other than a PRT protected Ward.”

“That’s,” Amy choked out. Her fingers tightened on her arms until they were leaving white spots. “They can’t, there’s oversight. They can’t do that. They’re the good guys!”

“Nothing is black and white, Amy,” I replied. I pulled some of my anxiety back from the swarm to relieve the pressure on the shunt and sighed as my shoulders sagged. “Look, I’m sure that some of the Protectorate and a lot of the Wards are great people. But I can never trust them or join them. They let in people like Sophia Hess. I can’t be on the same team as them.”

“They’re the good guys, they have to be the good guys,” Amy mumbled.

I frowned and reached over to shake her shoulder. “Amy? You okay?”

“What? What, I, um, sorry.” She jerked as I touched her and took a rattling breath shaking her head. “Sorry, I’m dealing with a lot. That didn’t help at all, but it puts things into perspective a bit more. Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. I’m the one who’s sending you catatonic now,” I replied. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? I just babbled half my life story after all.”

“I…maybe later. After I know what I’m going to do about it. Not right now. I still need to think. Um, we should talk about something else. You said you won’t join the Wards right? I understand that. How about New Wave? Is that an option for you? We can support you, keep you safe out there.”

I shook my head hard enough to whip my hair across my face and pushed almost everything back to the swarm through my shunt. “No! No, I can’t. I _can’t_!”

Amy leaned forward and reached out to hold my hands. Her eyes widened and she gasped. “Jesus, your adrenaline glands are spiking like crazy and your heart is beating a mile a minute! Taylor calm down, it’s okay, you don’t have to join New Wave, I was just asking. It’s okay.”

“This is through punting off my emotions,” I told her through gritted teeth. “That’s why I collapsed in the bank. I realized that my identity might be getting out. I can’t let it get out. It can’t get back to my father.”

“Why? What’s – oh right, that was why we met up originally wasn’t it: parents. He’s a…villain?”

I slowly managed to get myself back under control and nodded in reply. “My schoolmates weren’t the only people I started tagging and following with my bugs.”

“Your dad?”

“He’s…not a good person. Not anymore. He was at one point. I remember when he wanted to fix the city. He and my mom were crusaders. They were going to make everything better and help heal the world. My mom even ran with Lustrum before she went crazy and started trying to kill all men everywhere or something.”

“I’m not sure that counts as healing but it would be a crusader,” Amy replied trying for a soft chuckle and failing. I did smile at her attempt though so it did hit its mark I guess.

“I’ve overheard him planning things with his people. He’s planning to take over the city now. He’s subtle about it though and he’s playing the long game. I think he still plans to ‘make things better’ but I don’t even know for sure. He was so messed up after mom died that he could just be trying to destroy everything too in revenge. He’s…hurt people. The only reason I even stay at home is because if I didn’t he’d know I knew something. I can’t let him find out I’m a cape.”

“Do you think he’d recruit you?” Amy asked. “Surely he wouldn’t hurt his own daughter. Even if he is a villain. Some villains care for their kids…”

I let out a bark of a laugh and laid my head on the table. “He’d care if I had powers. Without them? I wasn’t even worth a damn pickup from the hospital after nearly dying. I want to make sure that people are safe and that nobody has to suffer like I did. I can’t do that if my father gets ahold of me. He’ll either force me into working with him or he’ll fight me. I can’t…I can’t hurt him. He’s a villain, but he’s still my father.”

I felt Amy’s hand in my hair as I let go of some of the shunts. My fear and my worry flowed back into me and it was all I could do not to cry as Amy massaged my head. “I know. I understand.” We remained like that for god only knows how long before she said again, softly enough that I only heard her through the bug I had on her shoulder, “My father gave me up to Carol and Aunt Sarah. He stopped fighting them to save my life.”

“What?” I asked lifting my head and looking at her through a shimmery gaze.

“He ran a gang. New Wave stopped him back when they were called the Brockton Bay Brigade. Aunt Sarah told me that they tried to arrest him and during the fight, I was hiding in a closet, I almost got hurt really bad until he blocked their attack and surrendered to stop the fight. His only request before they took him to the Birdcage was to make sure that I didn’t wind up in the system, because then someone else would use me for revenge or as a second generation cape or something.”

I hung my head again and hugged myself. “My father becomes a supervillain and forgets about his daughter. Your father becomes a supervillain and _only_ cares about his daughter. Fun times.”

“Our world is fucked up.”

“You can say that again.” I drew strength from my swarm and pulled myself back up to a sitting position. “So why did you leave home?”

“It’s complicated. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Fair enough,” I said nodding. “I’d offer my home if you need it, but you know. Supervillain home and all.”

Amy smiled at that and we both had a small laugh. “Thanks, but I’m okay at Aunt Sarah’s for now. Anyway, we really need to find you a team.”

“Maybe. I’ve been considering going to talk with Parian, but she doesn’t really do cape stuff. She just works with her shop mostly from what PHO says.”

Amy nodded. “Pretty much. She defends her turf if the gangs go there, but that’s about it. I mean, there’s technically Uber and Leet. The PRT classes them as villains but they’re more of just entertaining jerks mostly. They sometimes rob the people they force onto their shows, but most of what they make is through their YouTube broadcasts of their stunts. If you’re willing to go a bit edgier that might be an option.”

“Yeah,” I said grimacing. “I’ve been trying to avoid that one. While the video game thing could be fun, I don’t think I’d clash well with their personality. Plus they freak people out with their antics at first and that would annoy me real fast if they do it in the wrong place.”

“We could try and contact Circus. She’s unaffiliated.”

“That’s the jester with hammerspace right? The person that no one is really sure if they are a girl or a guy?” Amy nodded. “It’s an option. But I think she’s hard to get ahold of and I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with her in general. Clowns are just weird.”

“Well, how about Faultline’s Crew?”

I sighed. “Yeah, they’re pretty much my best bet, but even then I’m hesitant. They accept contracts with the Merchants and the E88. I’m…not willing to do that.”

“Then you have a problem, unless you’re willing to leave town and go somewhere else."

“I know,” I muttered. “Been thinking of forming my own team, but I need more people.”

Amy looked at me and frowned. Then she pulled out her phone, tapped away for a minute and her frown deepened. Looking back and forth between the phone and me several times she finally grinned and snapped her fingers. “Stopgap solution while you find new people? Split yourself off!”

“What?” I asked deadpan, blinking at her.

She held up the phone, a link to the thread I had been reading just that morning front and center along with a photo of me with my swarm covering me. Completely covering me, nothing visible but the bugs. “Don’t go out as Taylor or whatever you’re calling yourself.”

“Was going with Queen at the moment,” I muttered. “Couldn’t think of anything better and it’s appropriate since I have control of the swarm.”

“Okay, don’t go out as Queen. Go out as _this_. PHO is convinced that you are a Case 53 made of bugs. Sell that. Be two different capes! One that _controls_ bugs, Queen. And one that _is_ bugs, Hive! You, yourself never even need to get close to a target if you go out as Hive, especially if your range is good enough. Then when you find a team, you can start going out as Queen too and have the ‘extra member’ join up.”

My mouth dropped open as I stared between Amy and her phone. My swarm buzzed in the back of my mind. I had enough of my critters now. As long as I was careful…“That…could work.”

“Yes, yes it could.”

I looked up at her and smiled. Holding out my hand, my grin widened as Amy gripped shook it. “I think this could be the beginning of a wonderful partnership, Amy.”

Amy snorted and rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Taylor. Now finish your milkshake. I need to give you tips on how to deal with the Protectorate when they come to speak with Hive.”

* * *

Fanfic Rec: ‘Queen of the Swarm’ by Vherstinae. In this story Taylor essentially eventually becomes similar to Kerrigan from the Starcraft series. Technically a Taylor/Lisa fic but it doesn’t actually get to that aspect until very close to the end. Taylor is very rarely comfortable with what she's turning into or how she makes critters having several breakdowns and the fic shows a realistic view on how that affects someone as well as their friends/family. Taylor also forcibly converts the Undersiders into a hero team with very amusing results. It is extremely good and is complete! It’s also very clearly setup for a sequel though one has yet to materialized sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Queen of the Swarm' by Vherstinae. In this story Taylor essentially eventually becomes similar to Kerrigan from the Starcraft series. Technically a Taylor/Lisa fic but it doesn't actually get to that aspect until very close to the end. Taylor is very rarely comfortable with what she's turning into or how she makes critters having several breakdowns and the fic shows a realistic view on how that affects someone as well as their friends/family. Taylor also forcibly converts the Undersiders into a hero team with very amusing results. It is extremely good and is complete! It's also very clearly setup for a sequel though one has yet to materialized sadly.


	3. Split 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This chapter is a bit shorter but it seemed like the best place to cut things off for the moment.

**Split 03**

I bit my tongue as Greg prattled on about the bank and the new hero, who happened to be sitting in the seat in front of him. It was all he had talked about all morning. My stalker couldn’t take a hint. Ignoring him for three straight periods apparently wasn’t enough and I couldn’t avoid him for Gladly’s class since I sat right in front of him. I’d already exhausted my shunt limit for the morning and I was back to dealing with things the old fashion way. I’d almost prefer to deal with Emma and Sophia at this point. Avoiding them all morning had been simple enough once I’d marked them while approaching the school grounds. Avoiding Greg was proving to be immensely harder by some twisted humor of an evil god.

How did this idiot think we were _friends_? He never stood up for me while the Trio was hunting me, he spoke to me like once, we did a single assignment together, he never even sent me a Get Well Soon card! “Do you like spiders, Greg? I have a few outside I could introduce you too,” I muttered as he continued yammering.

Gladly didn’t even care that people were talking in his class. All he cared about was looking ‘cool’. And he was still sucking up to Emma to do it too. God, I wanted to hurl. If I didn’t need the alibi there was no way I would’ve been here. The only useful thing that had happened today besides showing my face was learning that Madison had apparently been coming to class even less than me. I was going to have to check on her soon to make sure I hadn’t sent bugs to get rid of her by accident. I didn’t _think_ I had, but my control hadn’t been exactly perfect in the first few days, so it was possible. I took a while to figure out the sub-controller effect and if I had accidently set a cluster on attack and they wandered outside my range…yeah I’d have to check on her. Dammit.

“And then Vista started to comment too! I got into this argument with someone going by SpecificProtagonist afterwards. She’s really annoying. Total cape groupie. Pervert too, like you wouldn’t believe!”

I clenched my teeth and steadfastly ignored the smirk that Sophia sent back my way. Apparently she’d realized that I had been avoiding her and was taking what little pleasure she could in Greg’s antics pissing me off in her stead. It wouldn’t keep her for long, but it would likely satisfy her for the class. In the meantime, I needed to hit something to drown Greg out.

I nearly cried in relief when _finally_ a group of gangbangers entered my swarm’s range. This day of horror wasn’t a total waste! 12 blocks out five Empire Eighty-Eight members were roughing up a young asian couple. I wish I could say I was surprised, but unfortunately it really wasn’t anything new. Not around Winslow where the gangs could basically recruit in the open. I tuned Greg out and focused on drawing my swarm towards the alley. This day was _going_ to be productive or so help me I was going to hurt someone in this horrible place just to make the jitters go away.

‘Hive’ coalesced into being at the mouth of the alley as I gathered hornets, spiders, ants and roaches into a nice person shaped form. It didn’t exactly look like me, but that wasn’t important. It was probably a good thing that it didn’t look like me anyway. I made Hive about 5'-6" and kept the eye sockets sunken-in, hollow voids showing the mass of flies and hornets at the back of ‘her’ head. Her arms were formed of linked spiders while most of the legs were made of roaches. All in all, I was quite proud of my creation. It could even run and stay mostly intact!

The gangbangers were less impressed. The first one to notice Hive took one look and started screaming his head off. “What the fucking shit is that! Holy fuck! Johnson! Call the boss! Call the boss! Cape, cape!” Then he drew his gun and actually shot me!

Some of the spiders making up Hive’s torso were blown away by the pistol, leaving a few holes in the main body. My puppet looked down at the bullet wounds, raised a hand to touch at them and then looked back up at the gangbanger. I had a few bugs in the head move to imitate a mouth and she grimaced while the torso filled back in. “Really?” Hive asked through the swarm. “You know this doesn’t hurt me, right? I can just reform with more bugs.”

I was getting so good at talking through my bugs!

“Shoot her again! Shoot her you stupid fucks!” It was a different member of the gang that shouted this time, though apparently all of them were stupid enough to listen as each of the five pulled out pistols and started shooting at me. Hive just sighed and motioned for the couple to hurry away behind the idiots’ backs. Apparently they were way ahead of me though since they had already gotten up and were running for the other end of the alley.

“What part of, ‘I can reform’ do you not understand?” Hive asked. Just for shits and giggles she flowed from her spot at the mouth of the alley to reform as just a torso of fliers directly in front of one of the gang members. Her legs caught up a moment later and flowed back up to rejoin the mass. “And what if that _had_ hurt me? Do you really want to be targeted for death for killing a new cape? For all you know I could be on Kaiser’s recruitment list.”

That actually caused the idiots to stop shooting at me and lower their guns. “Err, are you? I mean, we usually only take whites, but…well you’re bugs right? If you were white before you changed…that might be enough.”

My real body blinked and I had to suppress a snort of laughter. Thankfully Gladly was too busy trying to play off of something Emma had said to comment on it.

Hive reached up to point at her chest then the gangbanger. “Let me put it to you like this buddy. I am what you are! Fucking vermin.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed. “What did you call me?”

I heard the whine of a motorcycle off in the distance, drawing closer. Excellent. Time to wrap this up. “You heard me. Vermin. Tell Kaiser to watch his back. Tell the ABB to watch their backs. Tell the Merchants to watch theirs too. I’m coming for you all. Get off of my streets and get out of my city!” Hive broke up and swarmed over the gang members. The hornets stung at exposed skin while the spiders wrapped webs around their ankles tripped the two who tried to run. One idiot kept firing blindly into the air. I took care of that after his second shot once I managed to get a wasp onto his finger and sting him. He dropped the gun real fast after that. Barely 20 seconds after I started my offensive, all five of them were on the ground and well on their way to being cocooned in webbing.

As I finished tying the bad guys up, the motorcycle pulled to a stop at the end of the alley and one of the Protectorate capes casually got off, Miss Militia it looked like. I figured she would probably have been in more of a hurry, if it wasn’t clear that the attackers were already laid out on the concrete. Her rather large machine gun was a fairly decent deterrent, that should keep these idiots in line.

“Swarm? Was this your handiwork?” Miss Militia called out. While she wasn’t quite adversarial, there was a bit of an edge to her tone.

I pulled the spiders off of the gang members and grouped my bugs back together reforming Hive. “Yup, this was me. Hello, Ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I’d shake your hand, but…well, that’s a bit hard for me.”

She looked between Hive and the moaning E88 guys. Shouldering her weapon, she nodded down to the men. “Will they be alright?”

“Unless one of them has a wasp or bee allergy, they’ll be fine. If they do, there’s an epipen on top of the garbage bin to your left. I always travel with a few just in case.”

Miss Militia’s gun turned into a large knife which she sheathed on her belt. “Well in that case, job well done.”

“Thanks. Also, I go by Hive. It seemed a bit more appropriate than Swarm. Swarm just sounds…evilly.”

She blinked at that and I could almost see the smile behind her bandana. Actually, I probably _could_ see the smile if I snuck a bug into the right angle. “I would’ve said that Hive sounds more like a villain, but it’s your choice of course. So, the rumors were true then? Your body is formed out of the insects? Panacea was rather tight-lipped about it.”

“I asked her to keep it quiet, but yes. My trigger was traumatic, to say the least. This is the best I can do for the moment. One day I might be able to get a bit more solid but for now, this works.”

“You remember events before your trigger?”

“…Yes? Should I not?”

Miss Militia paused, then just shook her head. “It’s nothing, I was just curious.”

Damn. I knew there was stuff missing from PHO. I should’ve grilled Amy for more info. “Ookay. So, do you mind taking these guys in? Again, kinda hard being like this.”

“I’ll call for a pickup. Would you like to ride with us to the PRT building? Or perhaps the Rig? I can show you around. We can introduce you to some of the other personnel see if perhaps you’d be interested in working with the Protectorate…or maybe the Wards?” she asked lifting an eyebrow.

Wow she was good. “Is it the height? You’re right by the way. I would be a Ward. But no thank you. I’m going to skip that.”

“Are you certain? This city is not very pleasant for Independents who try to go it alone.”

Hive leaned back against the wall of the alley and folded her arms. I had several of the spiders quietly wind thread over the gang members ears so that this would be private. “Let me be perfectly frank Ma’am. I am _never_ going to join. The entire reason I am like this,” Hive waved her arms to encompass her form, “is because one of your psycho recruits tried to murder me and almost accomplished it. Now, I’m not going to hold a grudge and I’m not going after her like I could. But I’m not working with her. If I did one of us would likely end up killing the other. Since I don’t have a body for her to target anymore, my money is not on her.”

Miss Militia’s eyes shut and she let out a heavy sigh as her shoulders slumped. “Ah.”

That single syllable confirmed everything that I had feared. They knew that Shadow Stalker would be a problem and they still let her out. My vision took on a tinge of orange and I felt the pencil in my real hand break as I squeezed. Hive’s swarm buzzed all together, filling the alleyway with her noise before I regained control and damped it back down. “See, that right there, that’s why I can’t work with you. You know exactly who I’m talking about and you know she’s an issue.”

“There will be an investigation. She was already on probation. We are not all like her,” Miss Militia said softly. She raised her head and met Hive’s ‘eyes’. “But I understand. It is still not safe in this city to go about things alone. Brockton Bay is…not kind to unaffiliated capes. If you won’t work with the Protectorate then I strongly urge you to settle in with a different group. Please, for your own safety.”

“I have that covered actually,” I said nodding to her. “Thank you for the sentiment, Ma’am. I do appreciate it and it does mean something to hear an apology, even though you aren’t the person it should be coming from. I’m actually planning to start my own team. We don’t have a name yet, but I found another recent trigger whose power synergizes nicely with mine. We work very well together and can cover each other’s bases.”

“That’s good to hear. What’s her name?”

“She’s going by Queen. You’ll probably see her in a day or so.” I heard the bell ring in the background of Gladly’s class. That was fine, Hive was basically finished. “I have to go. Thanks for the assistance and thanks again for the concern, Miss Militia. It really was nice to meet you. See you around the Bay!” With a wave, Hive’s swarm dispersed and took to the skies around the alley. I kept a bug near Militia as I drew most of the swarm back towards the school.

Just before I got my books to leave the classroom, I heard her grab her phone and call the PRT. “Director? We need to talk about Shadow Stalker. I believe there’s been a rather grievous incident.” 

I recalled the bug on Militia and grabbed my bag, standing. Greg was still blabbing behind me, but in front of me Sophia turned to look at me. Her face was covered in a shit eating grin. I smiled right back at her, mine hungry like a predator. Have fun with your bosses Sophia. Have fun.

* * *

I whistled as I started the walk home. All in all, it had been a fairly good day so far. Yes, I came close to dragging the tapeworm out of Emily and using it to strangle Greg, but hey, we all have our weak moments, right? And I didn’t end up doing it anyway. Plus, I’d successfully managed to avoid Emma and Sophia the entire day while _still_ getting Sophia in trouble and keeping the heat off of me.

Would the PRT start looking into the locker thing back in January? Maybe. That was pretty far back for them to delve though since they thought that Hive was a new trigger and even if they did, I had played up the whole ‘can’t be human’ thing so effectively while Taylor was sitting in class being a good little student. So I doubted that they’d jump straight to me being the prime suspect. Sure, they could suspect I was the Master that I _actually_ was, but why go for complicated when simple was right there?

Now to just check and make sure I hadn’t killed Madison by accident and I’d be golden for the day! Of course, if I had killed Madison by accident then I had probably screwed myself by talking with Militia and setting them onto Sophia. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. If push came to shove, I could hide out with Amy while she smuggled me out of the city. Probably. She’d do that right?

I frowned and stopped to lean against the nearby wall. I took a breath and examined my last few thoughts again.

Goddammit not again! I’d pushed the shunt too far with Greg this morning and I was still dealing with the backlash. Riding the annoyance high with Miss Militia earlier, and now the happy high with a job well done at the moment. A high that was apparently good enough to cut through my paranoia about my father finding out about me through the PRT’s scrutiny. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Sometimes I hate my powers. I really need to figure out the limits on this stupid emotion shunt before I get myself into trouble that I can’t pull back out of. Shaking my head, I tried to focus in on the priorities and push through the emotional overload. At least there was very little chance of me messing things up with Madison, even if I was still riding a rollercoaster. What was the worst that could happen?

“I could freak out when I see her and go all _Carrie_ on her,” I muttered to myself. “Maybe I should wait…No, I need to know if I should be running for the hills or not. Stupid powers.”

It took me an extra half hour to get to Madison’s home and by then I had gotten enough of a handle on myself that I was reasonably certain I was mostly back to normal. Or least normal enough that I could function without getting into trouble. I stayed away from her house proper. I stayed away from her _street_ actually. I walked down about four blocks away to give myself enough distance that nobody should be noticing me. Then I sent some of the swarm in to check on the tiny tormentor.

The flies didn’t have much trouble getting into her room. Her window wasn’t open much, but even the sliver it was cracked open by was enough for the bugs to slip through. I threaded a few smaller spiders through the crack as well since their eyes were a bit easier for me to see through.

Good news was, Madison wasn’t dead. Woohoo!

Bad news was, if Madison’s friends at school could see her now, she’d probably wish she was. Also woohoo?

Her brown hair was disheveled, and looked like it hadn’t been brushed in weeks. She wasn’t wearing any makeup; I don’t think I’d _ever_ seen her without makeup. She had bags under her eyes and her skin was pale enough that one could probably be forgiven for thinking she was a vampire. There was a blanket draped around her shoulders and she was sitting cross-legged in her chair typing away at her computer in sweats with a pencil tucked behind her ear and a notepad beside the laptop.

“What the hell? Since when did Madison become a pariah?” I muttered nearly missing the curb in my shock over the other girl’s state.

My bugs caught her shifting positions as she finished typing and stretched. “So, Hive has issues with the PRT then? Good for her. If they can keep people like Sophia, it’s better that she doesn’t join up with them. Nobody should have to be anywhere near the psychopath…I should’ve stayed here to begin with. I should’ve fought harder. If only I could be strong like Hive…”

I rubbed at my temples and groaned. “Oh you have got to be kidding me. This cannot be happening.”

“Madison sweetie! Are you going to come to dinner tonight?” a voice shouted from inside the house.

“Can I eat up here, Mom?” she shouted back.

“You’ve eaten in your room for the past three days! You will eat with us tonight!”

Madison hunched in on herself and wrung her hands. She was quiet for several long seconds before shouting back. “Fine! Give me five minutes to close down my chats with my friends.”

“Five minutes.”

“Okay,” she twisted back to the laptop and started typing again. “Message All_Seeing_Eye with thanks for the Protectorate passwords, message GstringGirl to confirm the game at 10 tonight, and message Void_Cowboy to shove Hive’s official confirmation of being a swarm in his face. Aaaannd link sent. Okay. Done. I’ll be down in a moment, Mom!”

I pulled back and my attention trying and failing to contain my annoyance. When the hell did the world go insane? When did Madison become a shut-in computer nerd who was apparently my biggest fan and despised Sophia almost as much as me?

I couldn’t deal with this right now. I had other things to worry about. Like how in the hell I was supposed to go out and deal with gangs as both Queen and Hive at the same time.

Yeah…that was going to be a fun day tomorrow…

Before I walked off though I paused, a thought flashing through my mind. Queen and Hive would need a base of operations. And if Madison was a fan, maybe I should put her to work, make her do something _for_ me for once. Smirking, I set my bugs to grabbing for her notepad as she went down to dinner with her family. 

_Hello, Madison. I hear you enjoy my work. Perhaps you would know of a few locations I could use for a base in the future? I find myself in need of accommodations. If you wish to send to something my way, here is my handle._

_-Watchbug, aka, Hive_

* * *

“Hello, Taylor,” my father said as I closed the front door to our home. A chill went through my spine and I clamped down on my reflexive shiver. I reached for the shunt out of reflex. It was back. Thank god. I shoved my anxiety into the swarm and nodded to Danny.

“Hey, Dad. How was your day?” I moved into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of juice while moving a fly onto his shoulder to keep an eye on him.

“Productive. Yours?”

“School, so same as always. Greg is obsessed with capes again. Nothing new. I’m kinda tired. I’m just going to go up and do some homework then go to bed, okay?”

My father leaned forward from his place at the desk in the living room and set his papers to the side. “Your friend is the one that is fairly knowledgeable about most of the capes in the Bay isn’t he?”

I bit back my first reply and had to cut off my second one as well. I should’ve gone with something about Sophia or Emma. He never cared about the bullying and that would’ve let me get away easily enough. “Greg is not my friend, Dad. I’ve told you this. He just sits near me. He’s annoying. Nothing more.”

“Yes, you did mention that.” My father leaned back and ran his fingers over his temple. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day and I have a large headache. Tell me, Taylor, did your friend say anything about the new cape? I heard that she was a bug user.”

“Someone on PHO seems to think she’s made of bugs actually. That’s what Greg was saying. I don’t know anything dad. You know I stay away from that stuff. Can I go do my homework now?” Please just let me do my homework. Please. My shunt was running out of time. I’d pushed too hard today. I needed to get out of here.

“Of course, of course. Have a nice night, Taylor.”

“Yeah, you too, Dad.”

He was already bent back over his paperwork with his phone in hand as I scurried up the stairs.

I shut my door and collapsed onto my bed as I listened with the fly’s senses. “Yes, yes, get more info on Hive. See if we can co-opt her. From the reports it doesn’t look like she’s amenable to the Protectorate so if we can get into her good graces we might be able to step into that gap before it closes…Yes, I heard that there was going to be a second cape. From what I can see, we have a small chance of recruiting them both. But you need to move carefully. Very carefully. In addition, I need you to make sure that we get the operation setup for the transport. They should be moving the Bird in about two weeks. I want everything to go smoothly. The bank was a problem. Redeem yourself or you may become more trouble than you are worth. I don’t have to play at having two lives forever and you know far too much to be allowed to roam free if I give up this charade permanently…Remember, your usefulness ends when I say it does. Have a pleasant night.”

My father hung up the phone and I pulled the pillow over my head, forcing down the urge to cry. ‘_We all take orders from someone_’ indeed. It sounded like Tattletale was just as trapped as I was. At least in my case though, the executioner didn’t realize that he had the noose around my neck.

I needed to get out of this house. I couldn’t keep doing this…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As many have guessed, there's not much point in staying coy about it; yes, Danny is the local equivalent of Coil. His power is not quite the same as Calvert's, though it is in a very similar vein. And no, he has no idea currently that Taylor is a Cape so he has no concerns about taking his work home with him sometimes.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: ‘My Completely Normal Parahuman: Tantric is Magic’ by Marchenblanc. This is an AU where Taylor gets tantric magic instead of bug powers and takes after her mother with them. She is also extremely socially inept, to a point where it’s almost a disorder. She saves Lisa after skipping the original night out and Lisa ends up getting badly hurt by Lung. Taylor and Lisa become friends and Taylor grows in…new experiences. I really can’t understate how utterly EXTREMELY entertaining and hilarious this fic is! Rather smutty at times which realistically just makes things even funnier. While it’s listed as complete, it’s mostly just the current story arc which is finished and the story has a lot of room where it can go! Though March has somewhat started a rewrite so there is hope for more!


	4. Split 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! I think this is the longest chapter yet in this fic. Next segment will probably be an interlude to close out the current arc.

**Split 04 **

I tossed and turned for hours before finally giving up. It seemed sleep was not going to be in the cards for me anytime soon tonight. Not that it was really all that surprising, after the day I’d had. So instead of lying sweaty and scared in my bed, I decided to go be sweaty and scared outside.

I gathered my swarm from around the nearby blocks and started directing it to move towards the warehouse district. This would be so much easier if I could just control the entire group at once instead of only a couple hundred or thousand with the rest just sort of following in their wake. If I was going to be working side by side with Hive, I might be really hamstrung. Well, Queen would be. That might be a good thing though. I could definitely play up the recon nature of my second persona then, make her seem like a weak master, someone that Hive recruited to provide long range recon, while she acted as the heavy hitter. Queen could also, officially, be a healer for the Case 53, someone who could bring in more bugs to patch holes in Hive, in case her swarm started to lose cohesion. That should net me some sympathy points on PHO since there was probably no way to avoid a person being made of bugs being inherently creepy in general.

The dual range dynamic would work well. It would require me to focus on many different aspects at once, but I could concentrate the directly controlled sections of the swarm into different areas of the fight and still maintain control over the largest number of bugs, keeping the swarm as a whole intact. In the meantime, I could continue to direct Hive however I needed at any given moment.

I smiled as I shimmied down the gutter next to my window. This could work. This WOULD work!

Taking direct control of a few roaches I kept close to my house, I directed them to grab my costume from where it was hidden in the woods nearby and bring it to me, while I dropped onto the lawn and hurried to meet up with my bugs. A minute to don my spider silk bodysuit and, boom, I was Queen! Forming up Hive besides me as I stepped under a street lamp and, just in case someone happened to be watching nearby, I high fived my construct and we started jogging.

Time to make good on my threat. Realistically, I only had one possible target, the Merchants were too mobile to easily strike, the E88 had too much in the way of cape firepower to call in. At least the ABB only had three powers on their side. Oni Lee was the biggest immediate threat. Lung I could avoid, and honestly what kind of Tinker would be patrolling in the dead of night? No. Bakuda was likely sleeping or working. Oni Lee's grenades would be the biggest problem, Queen wouldn't be close enough to be spotted and stabbed, but do enough damage to Hive and it'd be a pain to pull together enough bugs to rebuild her.

I made good time to the docks. It only took me twenty minutes and while I was enroute Hive was able to web up one mugger in her spiders and I nabbed a strung-out Merchant who thought it was a good idea to approach not one, but _two_ capes and try to hold us up. I hadn’t even had to use any powers for that one. Just dodged to the side as he swung his pipe and decked him with a baton to the back of the head. The rush was awesome.

I scowled under my mask as I arrived in ABB territory proper. If I was getting a rush off of an encounter like the last, maybe that was why my dad became such bastard; it would be easy to become addicted to it. Hive slapped the back of my head and I turned to glare at my construct which just crossed its arms and glared right back.

“Not so many emotions for you, thank you,” I muttered, drawing back the anxiety and giddiness I had been feeding into the swarm. My construct immediately grew a bit more docile and nodded back to me. This was going to take some getting used to. Splitting my mind in two while I was sitting in class was one thing. That was easy, I had been doing parlor tricks like that for months. I could probably have twenty different projections going at once with no sweet. It was making sure that Hive looked and acted real while still paying enough attention to my own body so that _I_ looked and acted normal too…that was what was going to be tough. This should be a good trial run as much as anything else.

Keeping Hive jogging beside me, I sent a few fliers out to scout the nearby warehouses. Mini-clusters of five to ten bees were more than enough to check out the giant spaces to see if there was anything nefarious going on. Unfortunately, I kept coming up blank. My eyes narrowed and my lips curled as I pushed the swarm further out, expanding into some of the apartment buildings a few blocks over. Still nothing. I started to growl under the breath before slapping my head and glancing at Hive. A moment later, I pushed my annoyance towards her swarm cluster. As the bugs accepted the emotion, Hive’s steps picked up the pace and she started jogging a bit faster than me. Not just jogging, she started to run and turned the corner ahead, angling to a building to the left. I frowned and focused in on the cluster that had been exploring that building.

The cluster was dead.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” I spat. “Stupid rookie mistake! Lose the tree in the forest. Step up your game Queen.”

Now I was talking myself again, great. And apparently my swarm knew itself better than I did. And it was _my_ power. Yeah, because this didn’t have the potential to get weird real fast.

I pulled a majority of the swarm clusters back and regrouped them, feeling for a way into the building. The ABB was good, but not good enough. Both Hive and I smiled at the same time. These gang members weren’t thinking three dimensionally at all. All of the lower windows and doors were fumigated, nothing was on the upper windows nor was there anything on the ventilation exhaust at the roof.

Hive flowed into the warehouse through the windows while I set the wasp and spider clusters flying down through the vents. As Hive reformed, I pushed determination and eagerness into her and directed Queen’s own flying arsenal to hold off for the moment. 

“One chance,” Hive stated to the eight ABB members as she did the equivalent of cracking the mantises that passed for her knuckles. “Stand down and I won’t hurt you.”

One of the asians smirked and grabbed a spray bottle from the floor beside him. “We’re not as stupid as the Merchants, little girl. How about a counter offer? You leave like you came in and we don’t kill all of those creepy crawlies and make this one of the shortest careers of a new Independent ever?”

Hive smiled, the expression a bit more horrific than it was probably intended to be since her head was mostly hollow and the back was composed of centipedes.

“Nice try. But see, you’d have to be able to pull the trigger for that to work.” Hive darted forward and slammed her buggy fist into the first gang member. Getting hit by one bug? Nothing. Getting a haymaker to your stomach from a hundred at once was going to sting. Or, in the unfortunate gang member’s case, knock you flat on your ass desperately wheezing for air.

A second ABB member tried to spray Hive with the bug spray, only to find that my spiders had locked the safety on with enough layers of silk that those idiots would need to set fire to the entire can to get it off. “Thanks Queen!” Hive shouted as she punched another gang member. A third tried to tackle her, though her bugs just reformed after he’d passed through. Amusingly enough, with a good two dozen hornets on him and well as dozens of centipedes. The unfortunate goon was taken out quickly once my critters started attacking him.

One guy had the intelligence, or cowardice, to run. Unfortunately for him, Queen still had several groups of fliers in reserve. Having them dive bomb him and string him up was simple enough. The final few thugs fell to Hive as she dispersed into her swarm and the entire cluster set themselves upon the remaining gang members. A few cries of pain later, and it was all over.

* * *

The building itself had been a good target. I had freed four girls from their beds before Queen and Hive finished our walkthrough of the location. I pushed my rage into Hive whose swarm started to audibly chitter in anger as she searched for the keys to free the girls. I was like a zombie as I moved between two beds and helped the girls stand and walk to the door. I covered their eyes as we walked past the downed ABB members. I broke my promise to Amy from back in the ice cream shop and I had a few of my precious bullet ants airlifted over from their nest and bite each of the ABB thugs. Their screams were muffled through the silk gags. It wasn’t enough. Hive looked back to me and nodded, a determined line across her otherwise nearly featureless face.

“Can everyone hold up here for a moment?” I asked holding up a hand. Hive stopped and the girls looked back to me. “Thanks, let me just scout out ahead and make sure it’s safe. I’m sorry I didn’t do it on the way down, I got a bit distracted.”

“That’s okay,” the one raven haired girl mumbled. “We can go home soon. As long as Lung doesn’t get here first, take as long as you want. They don’t report in for another two hours and the…clients don’t show up until 3.”

Thank god my rage was with Hive. My construct’s form fizzed out for a moment as her insects buzzed hard enough to lose their hold on one another. “Keep it together, Hive. We gotta finish up and get these girls home.”

I reconnected with the swarm I had left patrolling the area as we started the battle. Most of them were reporting all conditions normal. One group at the edge of my range had detected Oni Lee a moment before I made contact, but he was already leaving their radius heading away from us, so I wasn’t worried. The only real concern was that one group of flies was circling a garbage can in the alley outside. And had apparently met up with someone.

Fuck. I apparently needed to work on my multitasking… 

“Everyone stay inside. Hive, we have company, though she’s alone. I’ll go chat and I’ll call for backup if needed. Can you protect the girls?”

She held up her hand in an okay sign. “Gotcha covered, Queen. Go show the bitch why it’s not nice to watch and refuse to help.”

“Yeah, that’s your thing. I’m here to talk. Hence why you stay inside, hun.” I said blowing a kiss over my shoulder as I walked out the door. I kicked the bug bombs to the side as I did, shielding my critters from the smoke.

I walked to the alleyway and folded my arms, leaning against the wall as I stared at the girl in the purple and black bodysuit sitting on the pile of rocks across from me. “Tattletale.”

“Hello again. What name are you going by so that this doesn’t get awkward?”

“Queen.”

“Queen it is then,” she said a small smirk crossing her face for a moment. “That’s appropriate. How large is your swarm Queen? If you don’t mind me asking that is.”

“I do actually. That seems like privileged information,” I said back glaring through my mask.

Tattletale shrugged. “Well can’t blame a girl for trying.” She cocked her head to the side and chuckled. “You know you’re incredibly hard to read. I almost didn’t realize you were fucking with your emotions until we had almost screwed the pooch at the bank. A bit more and I would’ve gone too far with you and set you off since your shit was all messed up. That wouldn’t have ended well for anyone - me, you, the customers, anyone really. I’m sorry about that by the way. I didn’t…no that’s not fair. I _did_ mean to push that hard. I like getting a rise out of people. It’s fun. I don’t like actually _hurting_ them though. Will you tell your friend I’m sorry? I honestly didn’t think she would take it as hard as she did. She’s known this stuff for ages, otherwise I’d have no clue about it.”

I slowly nodded and pulled back some of my optimism from Hive. “I’ll pass it along. What are you doing here Tattletale?”

She sighed and leaned back against the rock pile staring at the sky. “We both know the answer to that. The other reason why I ran right the hell away.”

My mouth went dry and I shunted everything I could into Hive. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! “Son of a bitch!” I spat. Apparently Hive didn’t get _all_ of my emotions. I was going to hit my shunt limit soon if I wasn’t careful. That wasn’t super important at the moment. Finishing this conversation while I could functionally complete it was _much_ higher priority than staying emotionally stable. “I knew you worked for him, but _fuck_!”

“Yeah, the situation is not exactly ideal.” Tattletale waved as she sat up. She hesitated a brief moment and then reached up to pull off her mask. She smiled at me, saluted and then pulled the domino mask back onto her head. “I’m Lisa. Now we’re even.”

“Not remotely. You can destroy me.”

“And you can get me killed by just walking away tonight, Taylor. Your dad is not a nice guy and he expects results. I pissed him off too much while finding his limits. It’s what I do, I can’t really help myself,” she shrugged. “He has a temper in case you haven’t noticed. At the moment, I’m very useful. Once I stop showing results that changes and I’ll get a bullet in the head. Right now, he doesn’t know Queen and is _you_, he just wants the new cape under his thumb.”

“He can’t honestly think that I’m going to join the Undersiders!” I clenched my fists and the swarm near the dumpster buzzed as they oriented themselves towards Tattletale. “I’m not a hero, but I’m _not_ working for _HIM_!”

Tattletale held up her hands and shook her head. “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. _I_ don’t want to work for him either Queen. I’m just, not quite sure how to get away yet. Give me time, okay? For the moment, just…can you just take this phone? Please?” She held a cell phone out to me and hopped off the bricks to step closer. “It doesn’t have a tracker, and I broke the GPS, I don’t need either, I know who you are already. It’s just for show. To prove to him that you’re willing to _think_ about it. That I can still be useful. Please? You don’t have to like me. I’m just asking for you to not let your dad kill me just because you two are annoyed with each other. Please don’t make me a pawn in this squabble.”

The swarm quieted down as I looked from the phone in her hand to her face. I frowned and then my lips quirked up into a half grin. “Isn’t that what you want to make me into one day?”

Tattletale blinked and that same cat-got-the-canary grin from earlier spread on her face again as she laughed. “You are good! But you’re not a pawn, Queen and I don’t want to use you like one; I was hoping for a partnership. I just need to show you that I’m legit! I know you don’t trust me yet. How can you, knowing who I work for? I promise, when I have something concrete to bring you, something that can prove which side I’m on, I’ll contact you. Until then, we can work together to take down your dad. Sound like a plan?”

“Answer me one thing first.” Her eyes narrowed though she nodded. “How did you find out my father was Coil?”

Tattletale just laughed at that. “Would you believe initially by chance? I hang out on the Boardwalk a lot. He’s still technically part of the Dockworkers Union and while he doesn’t spend much time in that capacity there’s a few functions he can’t avoid. I walked past once while shopping. It was a hop skip and a jump to figure out who he was once I heard his voice. Backtracking his identity was easy at that point.”

I snorted and the swarm fully settled down. I shook her hand and took the phone. “To think, I had to work for weeks to figure out where the hell he disappeared to and you just walk past him. Doesn’t seem very fair. Anyway, sounds like a plan. And if you need to get out in a hurry, let me know. I’ll see if I can contact a few friends.”

“Will do. Thanks for this, Queen. You really have no idea what this means. Great catch tonight by the way.” She frowned and turned to the side slightly. “Damn. And good luck with the fallout. I swear this girl has the worst timing ever.” Without pausing to explain, she twisted and ran deeper into the alley.

“Hey! What the hell was that supposed to mean?!”

“You’re working with villains?” I froze at the sound of that very feminine, very pissed off, voice resonating through the alleyway behind me. Turning, I gazed up at Glory Girl floating about two feet off of the ground and glaring at me with her fists clenched.

“Oh, uh, hi Glory Girl!” Oh shit, she had probably seen me shaking hands with Tattletale - she had excellent vision, even without it that would have been obvious, though I didn’t think her package came with improved hearing too. Small mercies. I called for Hive as I tried to think of any way to placate the very annoyed hero in front of me. “I’m not working with her, I’m just not arresting her. There’s a big difference there.”

“No. There is not.” Glory Girl’s lip lifted into a snarl. I saw/felt Hive jump out of the main door and start to make her way to me. Backup. Bug backup against someone who was basically Alexandria Jr. if she decided to attack. Great. “Tattletale is a villain.”

“And I’m an Independent. I need informants, people on the street willing to tell me where the _real_ bad guys are. Like the people in this building. I can search using my powers, but like Hive and I found out tonight, that’s really hard and we have to get lucky. Tattletale is just a thief. These people rape and kidnap others. There’s a significant difference.”

“A villain is a villain,” Glory Girl spat. What? What the hell kind of philosophy was that? “Every villain still on the streets means another innocent that could get hurt.”

Hive stepped between me and Glory Girl as the girls from inside crowded around the door to the building. “Hello again Glory Girl,” Hive said nodding her head in greeting. “Look far be it from me to intrude here, but you do know that there’s gray everywhere right? Hell even the damn Nazis take care of their own and watch out for the people under their protection. That’s better than scum like the Merchants or psychos like the Nine. Very few things in this crappy world are black or white, completely hero or totally villain. Maybe just Hero and Gray Boy, the former is dead and actually, come to think of it, so is the latter.”

Glory Girl didn’t even seem to hear a word that Hive was saying. I had to actually stop for a second to check and make sure that the swarm that made her up had vocalized that little speech. “And now you’re corrupting this sweet kid too! That blonde bitch messed my sister up enough that she moved out!” Ah, there was the real problem. Amy. Wait…I was corrupting who now? “And you _let her get away_!”

Oh shit.

I had no time to react. Glory Girl surged down from her position, arm outstretched ahead of her like some horrible mockery of one of those ancient Superman comics. She burst through Hive like she was tissue paper, squashing over two dozen bugs on her path. Then the flying brick hit me.

And my world was pain.

* * *

“What the fuck did you do?!” Hive screamed sending a swarm of hornets and black widows towards Glory Girl as her body reformed. She dropped to one knee and reached out to touch Queen’s neck feeling for a pulse. She already knew she’d find it. She had to find it otherwise she wouldn’t exist. This was weird. Taylor was mostly out of it. Queen, basically, was unconscious. Taylor was essentially, for all the important purposes, dying. Bugs swarmed over Taylor and between their eyes, ears and other myriad senses, including Taylor’s own, Hive was able to get a semi-diagnosis. Collapsed lung, three cracked ribs, one floating dangerously close to the stomach, shit Taylor had parasites didn’t she? Hive would never be able to get this much detail without some sort of parasitic infection. Well that could be dealt with later on. Saving Taylor was what needed to be done in the moment.

Hive felt her control over her swarm slipping as Taylor drifted further away. She grimaced and slipped a spidery hand into Taylor’s pocket pulling out the old prepaid phone.

A hacking cough behind her alerted her that the fliers she had sent against Glory Girl had been swatted away. She drew more bugs out of her central mass and sent them to their deaths against the cape. Just had to keep her busy a little longer. Fuck. Fuck, fuck! The flies weren’t strong enough to press the buttons and the spiders were too big!

A roach slithered down her arm and hovered over the mobile phone. Finally, she managed to get the insect to depress the speed dial. The other end rang once, twice, three times before it _finally_ picked up and a yawn issued through the speaker. “Ta - ” 

“This is Hive!” she shouted over Amy’s sleepy half greeting. “Glory Girl just caved in my partner’s chest! We’re on,” she consulted the mini-cluster at the edge of the street, “Fifth and Grace! Help!”

All traces of sleep had vanished from Amy’s voice as she replied, “Keep her alive for three minutes. I’ll be right there.” The line went dead.

It was all Hive could do to hold her form together as more and more bugs started to drift away into the alley around them.

* * *

I heard angry muttering sounds first. A dim part of my brain chimed in that they were voices, but who the voices belonged to escaped me for the moment. It was dark wherever I was. Mostly dark. Except where it was light too. There was actually a lot of light. Huh. I could see out of a lot of eyes apparently. A _LOT_ of eyes. How could I do that again? Oh wait, voices meant people. I wasn’t hearing them through me, I was hearing them through the eyes. That didn’t sound right. Sound. Sound wrong? See right?

“Oh crap, she gave me too much,” something muttered near my ear. “Amy, hang on a sec, she might flail in a moment.”

“I got her,” a second thing replied. Replied. That was a funny word. I think I knew that voice. Why was my chest warm?

The next moment, the world nearly exploded as my mind flooded back into my body. All of the bugs around me chittered and flew and ran in circles as my control went wild. Hive’s body briefly surged into a swarm of hornets and roaches before reforming nearly instantly and gaining almost four inches in height and my mini-clusters recoalesced right after, marching back to their patrols. My back arched and forced my chest up into Amy’s hand, my arms slapping down onto the pavement next to me and a hoarse scream tore from my throat.

“Queen, it’s okay! You’re okay! Panacea is here and she’s healing you, calm down!” Hive shouted. She tried to use her spidery hand to push me back down but I dissolved her arm and screamed again. Something was still wrong. How was Hive acting without me telling her what to do? Where was I? What had _HAPPENED_?!

“Aunt Sarah, help!”

Another set of hands landed on my shoulders and pushed me back to the pavement as I sucked in another breath to scream again. Hive pushed more of herself at me and the scream died in my throat. She lost a bit of cohesion and I had to manually shore her up and draw her arm back together as my aborted scream turned into a raggedy gasp.

Glory Girl had punched me. She had punched me and I had flown 30 feet down the alley. Wait, that wasn’t my memory, that Hive’s? Wait, fuck! When had Amy gotten here? Did Glory Girl call her? Did…I blinked and twisted my head, Hive smiled and waved…did _Hive_ call her.

What sort of monster creation had I made? Hive was me, a swarm with my mind controlling her…wasn’t she?

“I-I’m okay,” I rasped. My throat was still sore. Great. Whatever, problem for another day. I looked through my bugs and saw that the other person holding me down was Lady Photon. Okay, that explained how Amy had gotten here before I bled out. “You can let go now. I’m okay.”

“Actually, you’re not. I’m still healing you.” Amy said barely seeming to be paying any attention to the world around her at all. “Did you know you have a thirteenth rib? Cause you do. It also broke off and was about an eighth of an inch away from puncturing your stomach and letting the acid into your internal cavity. Not a fun way to go. I should have the rib fixed in another few seconds. _Then_ you’ll be okay. So stop fucking moving and let me finish!”

“…Okay,” I replied gulping.

Lady Photon at least did let go of my shoulders and stood up. She tried to smile down reassuringly at me. “It’s not as bad as my niece is saying. She tries to scare people who get hurt so that they don’t go and do something stupid again. We got here in more than enough time, even if things had gotten…bad.”

Hive clenched her fists and did a good job of glaring at the adult hero considering she didn’t actually have proper eyes. “_Queen_ didn’t do anything stupid,” she growled, the sound coming out as a rattle of roach hissing and mantis legs clacking together. Very intimidating. Well done Hive. Wish I’d thought of that…“That was your other niece.”

I looked through Hive’s eyes and found myself inordinately pleased when Glory Girl held one elbow with her other arm crossed over her chest and cast her eyes dejectedly at the ground, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Your partner let a villain go…I saw them shaking hands and then Tattletale just walked away. We can’t let villains go. It’s not right!”

Photon clenched a hand over her chest and visibly drew in a deep breath and let it out before turning to Glory Girl. “Victoria. Do yourself a favor and _shut up_! I’m half a mind to ban you from patrols for a month and force you into those classes about necessary force and acceptable targets that we’ve discussed in the past! Don’t push me right now. You won’t like the consequences.”

“That villain fucked up Amy!”

“That villain may have been the catalyst, but your sister’s problems with her mother go much deeper than anything that 30 seconds in a bank would bring up, Victoria. I should’ve stepped in long ago, I didn’t and now we are reaping the consequences. I don’t know what Carol has told you, but we will discuss this at home.”

“No, we will discuss this now,” Amy said standing. She extended her hand down to me and pulled me to my feet. “I’m done, you’re all healed Queen. Better than before, even, since I had to get rid of a few extra passengers.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. I tried to smile at her though it felt forced even to me. I checked my shunt. It was still there, but mostly empty. Hive only had the bare minimum to remain functional, My body was mostly operating at normal levels of human emotion. Fantastic. Considering how fucked up my mind had been when I woke up, I didn’t dare send anything through that connection right now.

“Amy, Victoria, we should discuss this at home,” Photon said glancing between the two.

Amy took a step back from her aunt, putting herself closer to me and Hive. “We…we can’t Aunt Sarah. I’m not going home. Not to Carol’s house, or to yours.”

“What? Amy what are you talking about?”

Amy cringing, collapsing in on herself. I almost reached out to her myself before remembering that officially she knew Hive better. I started to direct my construct towards her but she was already laying a hand on Amy’s shoulder and squeezing softly.

Seriously, what the _fuck_ had I created?

“Thank you for letting me stay with you for a bit, Aunt Sarah. But I can’t. I just, I just can’t. If I stay with you then I have to be part of New Wave still. I wouldn’t feel right staying in your home with you, Crystal, Eric, and Neil. I would have to keep healing, keep covering for Vicky. I just…_every time Vicky_! Thirty-six times! Thirty-six! If it wasn’t for me covering your messes you would’ve killed more people than Stormtiger, Rune, Crusader, and Purity _combined_! Nazis, Vicky! You have a higher body count than Nazis! Tonight, you almost killed a girl, a new _hero_, for prioritizing rapists and murderers over a lone teenager who’s biggest two jobs have been a casino heist where only the ABB has been damaged and a bank job that got foiled halfway through. By Queen’s _partner_! I can’t, I can’t cover for you anymore Vicky. You have to learn your limits. You have to learn how to hold back and if I stay you’re never going to do that.”

Glory Girl staggered back as if she’d been slapped. I suppose in a way, she had been. “You don’t mean that, Ames.”

“Do you know why I stayed for so long? I’ve wanted to stop for months. I’ve wanted to put up more of a fight. Every time you call me with a ‘problem’ I convince myself it’s going to be the last time. That this time will be different. That you’ll feel bad instead of just laughing it off. But nothing changes. Except I die inside a little more each time. Because you don’t even care what it does to _me_. What happens if I don’t make it in time Vicky? Do we just hide the body? Throw it into the bay and hope it never washes up again? Or do you ask me to liquify it? I’m an accessory either way. And I’d do it too. It’d prove Carol right, but I’d do it. I’d be a goddamn monster, just like my dad, because _you_ asked me to do it. Because _you_ had to be protected.”

“I never would’ve asked that of you Amy,” Glory Girl said softly. She started to float closer to my friend. Amy took two steps back, using me and Hive as a wall to protect her from her sister. Lady Photon had her eyes closed and her hands clenched at her sides. She must have seen this coming ever since Amy had shown up at her doorstep, otherwise she would’ve stopped the yelling before now. Right? That was what parents did, right? I, I think that’s what my mom would’ve done…had it really been so long since I’d had her, had any parent, hell had any competent adult, in my life that I’d forgotten?

“You wouldn’t have to ask,” Amy sobbed. “_Because I LOVE YOU_!” You could have dropped a pin and gone deaf at the noise in the silence following that declaration. Amy let it hang until Glory Girl backpedaled in midair and hung besides Lady Photon, her hands limp at her sides and her mouth hanging open as she stared at her sister.

“You…you what?”

“I’m immune to _poison_, Vicky, not _emotions_!” Amy spat. “You and your goddamn aura! You never shut it off. I’m always exposed and you take me everywhere. Then you add in that we aren’t actually related and of course I’m going to fall for the perfect goddess who can do no wrong! You were the only one in that family that ever even tried to care about me, Vicky. Mark was a good dad when he was on his meds, but he’s never on his meds. Carol _hates_ me and she never made a secret of it. I’ve known since I was eight that she despised me. I figured out why when I was twelve. I didn’t even do anything. It’s just what I _could_ do because of who I am. You were all I had and your aura ramped that up to a billion! I’d die for you in a heartbeat! _AND I HATE THAT_! I didn’t have a choice, I never had a choice! I just want a choice in who I love!” I didn’t have to turn around or even look through my critters to know there were tears streaming down Amy’s face. Her hiccupping sobs were more than enough of a giveaway even if the raw pain in her voice wasn’t there for everyone to hear.

She had not gone into remotely enough detail when she bought me ice cream. And I thought my home life was messed up. This girl really needed a hug. And lots of commiserating sweets while she had a shoulder to cry on.

“Amy, I, that’s,” Glory Girl stopped and shook her head hard enough that her curls flopped against her face. “No! No, you can’t feel that way, Amy! It’s wrong! We’ll call Gallant, maybe he can help. I can get control. I didn’t know! I can, I can do something. We can get you help. Just come home.”

“I can’t go back. I can’t. I need to be away from you and away from Carol. And if I’m with you, Aunt Sarah, I’m never going to stay out of New Wave business. I need…I need a fresh start. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

Lady Photon stared at Amy with glistening eyes. “I wish you had told me all of this sooner, Amy. I could’ve helped.”

“It’s not your fault, Aunt Sarah.”

“I’m the leader of New Wave and your aunt, it really is,” she said with a bitter laugh. “Where will you go?”

Amy turned to Hive, and the swarm girl looked back, “Were you still trying to recruit?”

Hive shifted several insects to approximate a blink of surprise. Well that was cool. “Yeah, I guess. Um, are you asking to join up?”

Amy smiled though it didn’t reach her tear-filled eyes. “If you’ll have me.”

“We have cookies,” I chimed in. “You healed me tonight and helped Hive the other day. I figure that deserves an entire plate of cookies along with a t-shirt. One of us can have the swarm make you one. It’ll be bulletproof too so…maybe I should’ve led with that.”

Photon looked between me and Hive, finally focusing on the bug girl. “Promise me you’ll keep her safe. So help me, I will hunt you down if you get my niece hurt.”

“We’ll protect her,” Hive replied shaking her head. I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted or not that everybody was looking to my construct as the leader instead of me. Though considering that I had basically introduced Hive to Miss Militia as the leader of the group, I guess that did make sense. This was so weird.

“Okay. Amy, if you ever change your mind or want to come home, we’ll always be there for you. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t, Aunt Sarah. Thank you.”

“Victoria, time to go. Fly to my home. We’re not done talking. Not by a long shot.”

“But,” Glory Girl looked between me, Hive, Amy, and Photon. “We can’t just leave her! We don’t even know anything about them! We can’t just - ”

“Victoria. Go. To. My. Home. _Now!_”

I thought that the blonde was going to argue again, but instead she just slumped and nodded. Without even looking at Amy she rocketed into the sky arcing out over the streets.

Photon rubbed at her temples and muttered a curse under her breath. She turned back to us and nodded, casting a final smile towards Amy. “I hope you can find peace, Amy. Please call me when you get settled. All three of you get out of here. I’ll take care of the women you found and make sure they get home safe.”

As she turned and walked back into the building, Amy turned to look at me, this time ignoring my companion. “So…do you have a place that I can stay at that isn’t all…” she grimaced and waved her hands in front of her in what I guess could maybe called a child’s version of a witch throwing out a magic spell, “you know.”

I couldn’t help it, I snorted with laughter. “Wow, Amy, that was impressive. You could just say evil you know. But to answer your question…maybe. Let’s make a few calls and head towards one of my…” I paused and frowned as I thought about how best to describe this. Finally settling on the best modifier, I chuckled and Hive’s bugs chittered along with me. “Or one of _Hive’s_, I should say, biggest admirers.”

“Huh?”

Hive gave a more proper laugh this time and she just slapped Amy on the back. “Trust me, you’re going to enjoy this encounter. I know we will!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: ‘Keep Calm and Respawn’ by Konsaki. Taylor gets respawn powers so she comes back every time she dies. This turns highly amusing when she starts casually killing herself in front of friends and allies to charge up as time goes on. Very good and exceptionally entertaining. Sadly it hasn’t been updated in awhile, but what’s there is more than enough to provide a wonderful insight into this awesome premise.


	5. Interlude 1.x

**Interlude: 1.x**

_Sarah Pelham_

Sarah closed the door to her house and rested her back against it for a moment trying to collect her thoughts and force her stomach back down. It didn’t help, it didn’t help at all. This entire situation was so far beyond screwed up that there was almost no recovering from it. Hopefully Crystal had done as she’d asked when she and Amy ran from the house originally, so that she didn’t have to do this twice – or thrice – in one night.

Swallowing the last of the rising bile, she pushed off from the door and strode into the living room. Good. The entire family was there. Crystal was on the couch with Neil and Eric while Carol, Mark, and Victoria were sitting on the armchairs. She took her place at the center chair and crossed her arms as she sat. “Victoria, give me one good reason why we don’t go directly to the PRT and the Protectorate. From what I’m given to understand, you can’t seem to control yourself, and tonight certainly warrants it.”

“Sarah! Just what are you accusing my daughter of now!” Carol yelled. “It’s bad enough we have to be woken up to fly over here at 2 in the fucking morning, now you’re saying Vicky has done something wrong? I hope you have proof!”

“This isn’t a trial, Carol, and you should be thanking your lucky stars it isn’t. If it was, she’d probably be up for attempted manslaughter by use of a parahuman ability.” Sarah’s declaration was like a bombshell and all potential whispering in the room stopped at that as the family’s eyes rotated between Sarah and Victoria.

“It’s true,” Victoria murmured. “I was just so mad and I didn’t think…Everyone has a brute rating of at least 1 these days in this city…I figured she could take one punch…I didn’t mean to hurt her that bad…”

Crystal raised her hand and shook her head. “This should wait until Amy gets back.”

“Amy is not coming back.”

“Wh-what? What do you mean Amy isn’t coming back, Mom?”

“Did I fucking stutter? Amy isn’t coming back. Are you happy Carol? You’ve finally driven her away, for good this time. I knew you had issues, but I thought we agreed you _would come to me if it **GOT THIS BAD**_!”

Carol scowled and glared at Sarah who just continued to stare right back at her sister. Finally, Carol huffed and turned to the side. “We don’t need her. We never should have taken her in.”

“SHE’S YOUR DAUGHTER!”

“SHE WAS NEVER MY DAUGHTER! She’s the misbegotten spawn of a monster and she was going to become a monster herself! Now that she is free of us, you just watch, she is going to show her true self any day now, and you’ll see I was right to hate her,” Carol sneered.

Mark and Victoria both stared open mouthed at the woman. Mark for his part wiped a hand down his face and leaned back in his chair. “And people say I need therapy. Carol, either you see someone starting tomorrow or I’m taking Victoria and we’re leaving.”

“You can’t do that. They’ll never give you custody with your condition.”

Mark just smiled back at her. “Probably not, but I’d love to see how you keep custody when it’s made aware how much you despise your other daughter, the miracle working Panacea of all people. I think I have a good chance, _hun_.”

“I think it was my fault anyway,” Victoria said wrapping her arms around her knees and pressing back into her chair. “That’s what she said wasn’t it, Aunt Sarah? That she needed to stay away from me because she, because she…”

Sarah groaned and held her head in her hands. She’d tried to forget about that little tidbit though of course it wouldn’t go away. “That’s…not entirely your fault, Vicky. Though it is another thing we badly need to talk about. _Can_ you control your aura? Truly control it?”

“Maybe? Yes? I think so? I don’t really know. I’ve never tried to fully suppress it. There wasn’t ever a point. Dad needed cheering up, Mom is a bit of bitch so it couldn’t hurt, Amy was _supposed_ to be immune, so I always left it on at home. At school, Dean is there to counteract it and when he isn’t it’s just a few minutes for each person so I didn’t really care enough to pull it in. I’ve been holding it inside since Amy said something and I think I can keep doing it, but I have to concentrate on it. I might get used to it enough to just flip it off and on like a setting, but I just don’t know.”

Sarah nodded. “Well, that’ll do for now I suppose. Though we still haven’t answered the other question, Vicky. Give me one reason why we don’t take this to the PRT.”

“Because they’d send me to the Birdcage,” the blonde replied in a quiet, defeated voice.

That brought Sarah up short as bedlam broke out in her living room.

“Vicky what did you do?!”

“Vicky? Girl, seriously? What the hell happened!?”

“Not another word Victoria! Not, another, word.”

“Vicky are you all right?”

“Vicky?”

“Sarah? Some explanations would be appreciated.”

While her family argued, Sarah just frowned and held her head. Her niece was right. If things had escalated this far, they probably would send her to the Birdcage. If Amy had stepped forward earlier then things would be different, but now, it was too much, too far. If one person started to talk, then all of them would. A whole cascade would follow and any hope of clemency or just a short stay in juvie would go out the window. This was so far past the three strikes prerogative…goddammit. “Everyone, QUIET!”

She waited for the muttering to die down as she stood and turned to Victoria. “You’re _absolutely_ certain no one died because you couldn’t control yourself?”

Victoria nodded, still refusing to move her eyes from the floor. “I didn’t know it was that many people though. I didn’t, Aunt Sarah, I swear. I thought it was just a few. I never kept count. I thought, I thought that Amy would say something if I ever was going too far…”

“It certainly sounds like she tried.”

“And that I just didn’t want to listen, I know,” Victoria buried her head in her knees. “She’s never going to forgive me is she? And now she probably thinks that I hate her because of how I left and what I said!”

“We can deal with that later,” Sarah said. She hadn’t meant for it to come out that harshly, but once it was out there was no taking it back. “Carol, what would be the penalty for thirty-six uses of a parahuman power that would necessitate healing by Amy to…”

“Survive,” Victoria supplied.

Carol paled. “My firm just defended a girl being sent to the Birdcage for unintentionally using her power to maim her ex-boyfriend. All evidence showed she had no idea she was forcing him to do something, but the courts didn’t want to hear it and I didn’t feel like trying it because the girl did nothing beneficial with her powers except sing. I gave it to a less experienced lawyer. Granted he didn’t do the best on the case, but he didn’t have much to work with. She was going to go no matter what. That was one use. Victoria, tell me this is not right?”

“It’s right Mom. And that monster you were talking about? Your _daughter_! She’s the one who kept me from getting in trouble for it before now! She’s the one who kept me from being brought up for killing a girl, a new hero, tonight! Oh god, I could’ve killed Hive too! Did you see how little there was left of her before Amy fixed Queen? Oh god, I’m the monster, I’m the fucking monster,” The rest of Victoria’s statement dissolved away into nothing as she descended into sobs. Crystal rose from her spot on the couch and went to hug her cousin as did Mark.

Sarah fell back into her chair shaking her head. “Alright, that settles it. We can’t call the PRT despite however much it warrants it. Goddammit, Vicky. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do: Ball is in their court. If Queen and Hive want to press charges, we won’t deny it, but we won’t start things first as I’m not going to be the one to send my niece to the Birdcage. On the other hand, Vicky, you are barred from patrols, from ANY missions unless I personally give you the go-ahead. I’m calling in Yamada, she owes me one. She’ll set up appointments for both you and Carol. Mark, if you want in, feel free. I highly recommend it, but I can’t force you. In the meantime, it’s getting light out and I need to go brief the Director on how Panacea is no longer with New Wave and that we’re unsure whether she will be continuing her healing trends. Any questions? Good. Get some sleep, all of you. I need to get ready to talk with Piggot.”

The living room again blew up in conversation and argument as Sarah stalked back out of the house and took to the air. It was times like this that she envied Mike. At least he had been able to walk away after Fleur. At least he had found some sort of peace.

* * *

_Madison_

The tiny black-haired girl stretched as she shut down her computer. She squinted at the time and muttered, “Ugh, 3 AM? I really need to get back to a normal sleep cycle.”

“Sleep is overrated,” a chuckle sounded from behind her. Madison squeaked and spun her chair around grabbing for something to defend herself from the intruder. She managed to grab her coffee cup and chuck it in the general direction of the center of her room while her chair continued to spin only to hear it impact against one of her stuffed animals in the corner. “Wow, that’s actually not bad aim, Madison. Nice shot! Too bad I’m not actually inside the room though.”

She threw herself off of the chair and peaked over her bed. Her mouth fell open as she saw a small cluster of bugs in the center of her room. They formed into a small hand and waved at her. “Oh my gosh! You’re Hive!”

“Yeah, more or less. Can you open the window? This is going to take forever if we talk like this and I have more friends outside.”

“Sure, give me a second,” Madison said, quickly scrambling over her bed and levering her window wide open from the small crack it been a moment ago. Looking into the alley below, she saw Hive’s main body as well as two other girls. All three waved up at her.

“Hey,” the tall one in the middle said saluting her, “do you want to come down or do you want us to come up? Depends how good sleepers your family is I guess.” The way she talked sounded familiar, but Madison put it out of her mind for the moment. She could worry about that later.

Looking back to her bedroom door, she frowned and shook her head. “I’ll come down to you. We can talk in the woods just past my backyard. Give me a moment to get down.” She turned around levered herself out of the window reaching below for the foothold of the garage roof just off to the side. “You can do this, Madison, you can do this. Be strong. Be strong like you wanted to be.” She felt her foot catch on the garage and slowly put her weight on it. Dropping onto the garage proper she smiled for an instant, before gravity took hold and she was falling backwards off of the garage and into the alley, her arms pinwheeling and a soft scream issuing forth.

She barely had time to even realize she was falling before she was caught by the tall, armored girl, both of them nearly falling to the pavement as the girl sagged under her. “Damn, you really are light,” the girl muttered. “All right get up, I’m not carrying you the whole way, Madison.”

Madison frowned as she shakily stood and turned to look at the grey clad hero standing near Hive and the...was that Panacea in civilian clothes? Holy cow. What the hell had she wandered into? “Um, do I know you?”

“Yeah actually, you do. But we’ll get to that when we’re under cover. You said the woods?”

“Y-yes, this way,” Madison said waving the trio forward. As she hurried to her little spot in the woods, she wracked her brain trying to find who would fit this mystery hero. No one immediately came to mind. The only one close was one of her online friends, but none of them seemed to fit quite right. Cowboy maybe, but she was nearly certain that was Greg Veder and the day Greg showed up on her door in drag was the day she gave up everything. Trying to help people to make up for her old mistakes was one thing. Trying to help Greg was…entirely different. Besides, he’d called her a pervert!

The four of them settled into her little clearing and Madison looked around. Before anyone could speak though, Hive smiled. “Did you get my message?”

Madison nodded back, a grin forming. “I did! I’ve been looking up some places you might like to use. I have a list back in my room. Some are old warehouses that aren’t being used. Others are places on the docks that haven’t seen a tenant in ages though you might want to be careful about those. I had to run a few by one of my contacts and she said that some Merchants might be holed up in some. There’s a factory location that my dad used for shipping a few months back before the trade dried up. There’s not really a plan to either bring production online or sell it off though so right now, it’s just vacant. Something about a tax write off. I think that’s probably your best bet. It’s set up for electricity from the grid too and as long as the draw isn’t too extensive my dad shouldn’t notice anything. Even if it is, I can probably route most of the funds notice away from him with a bit of minor hacking. I’m already in his main system thanks to family passcodes anyway. Endbringers have done _something_ right I guess.”

The tall girl looked between the other two, both of whom shrugged. “Okay, I think that would probably be acceptable. However, before we move forward, there’s something that _you_ need to know, Madison. Considering that you are going to know the location of the base, you should probably know who you are sheltering. It’s going to come up eventually and I’d prefer to handle this now so that we know if it’s going to be a problem or not.”

“Why would it be a problem?” She asked frowning. Just who _was_ this girl and why did she sound so _familiar_?

“Because,” the girl reached up and pulled off her helmet and Madison’s world stopped, “I’m Taylor Hebert. Your last victim. Hello, Madison. How does it feel to be responsible for creating your own hero?” Taylor smiled at her. There was nothing that could be mistaken for kindness in that smirk or in those eyes.

Yet, it didn’t matter. Because Taylor Hebert was _alive_! She was ALIVE! Madison hadn’t been party to a murder! She hadn’t - Before her mind caught up with her body, she was flinging her arms around Taylor and sobbing into the taller brunette’s armored chest. “I thought I’d killed you!! They didn’t tell me what they were going to do and then when I found out they said you were already out! And then I found out you were in there for hours!!! And then you were in a _coma_! I thought I killed you because I couldn’t stand up to Sophia!!! I’M SORRY!! I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, _I’M SORRY_!!!!”

She felt an awkward pat on her head and heard a mumble to the side that didn’t process through the sobs. The only important thing was Taylor and how very much not dead she was! “Okay, I was…not expected that. I admit I was kind of hoping for a breakdown, but this is not quite the direction I was hoping it would go. Err, so, how much of when you bullying me was intentional then and how much was the psycho bitch?”

“At the beginning too much was me joining in with the popular girls to keep them from focusing on the cute nerd who was good with a computer,” Madison hiccupped, sniffling as the words flowed out. “I’m tiny, I’m cute, and I’m a nerd, and Sophia is a horrible, horrible jock! All it would have taken was her to see me with my equipment one day and that would have been it for me! I thought that if I got in with Emma she would make Sophia leave me alone. I tried to just take your homework. Everyone knows that the teachers don’t care about it anyway. I figured they’d move on in two or three weeks. Jocks always get bored fast. But they didn’t! And everything I tried to make Emma shift her focus just narrowed her sight on you! Then I tried to get you to stay home, but you kept coming! I didn’t know how to get out! I tried leaving notes for the principal, but the bitch didn’t do anything. I tried _talking_ to the principal after they pushed you down the stairs, but she _still_ didn’t do anything! After they locked you in the locker I just gave up. I thought they killed you and I thought I was responsible because I hadn’t fought harder. I thought I had killed someone because I was too scared to be the victim too! I stopped going to school, I stopped going out, I stopped doing anything that wasn’t online. I can find you whatever you want, Taylor! Tell me how to make this right and I’ll do it! If you want me to finish things I’ll-I’ll do that too. God knows, I deserve it.” She pulled back and wiped her nose on her arms averting her eyes from the girl that had been a target for so long. She couldn’t meet her gaze. She didn’t deserve to meet her gaze.

There was quiet for too long to count and Madison was just waiting for the noose to fall around her neck like it always did. She hadn’t been strong enough to fight off Emma or Sophia and this was what she deserved.

The silence was eventually broken by the other girl murmuring, “…Taylor…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Taylor huffed. “You’re making it very hard to enjoy this, Madison. You’re supposed to be evil and horrible and I was planning to use Hive as a form of karmic retribution or something. Like ‘haha, look, your little victim has fangs and those fangs are what you admire so much! How do you like that?!’ But this is just sad. Sophia beat you down almost as much as she did me and she didn’t even realize it. Dammit. Alright fine, you’re not forgiven, but we can move forward with a fresh slate. How about that? Is that okay?”

“I’d, I’d like a fresh slate,” Madison said soft enough she wasn’t sure the others could hear her. That was when the rest of what Taylor had said caught up to her. Her head jerked up and she stared between the bug girl and her high school associate. “Wait, what do mean about Hive?”

Taylor gestured between herself and the cluster of bugs, the bugs doing the same and smiling. “I’m Hive. Hive is me. I think. We were. Until a few hours ago that’s what it was at least, now…it’s more…divided. Amy, I think…I think something knocked my control loose. Or maybe I pushed too much of myself at the swarm just before your sister knocked me out. I can still feel the bugs, but the ones under Hive's control just…do their own thing if I don't take direct control."

The other girl, Amy, frowned and fidgeted from side to side, "I…I'm not sure…does it matter right now?" she seemed nervous, nervous enough that Madison lifted her head up, eyes narrowing, trying to focus in on the conversation.

"Of course it matters, it's my powers being weird! Normally I control the management bugs and those broadcast my orders to the others. Everything mostly moves in a group, and, so long as I stay away from my upper limit of direct control, I don’t get a piercing headache. This, this seems to be working _way _differently. Hive's bugs are _all_ directly controlled, but don't seem to count towards my limit! Something weird is happening, Amy! Hive was supposed to be simple; it was supposed to keep me out of the line of fire while I got a team together! Now I’m worried I broke my powers! What if it runs off on its own? What if the rest of the swarm can start to do that?!”

Amy hunched over and shook her head. “…Taylor, can-can we please talk about this later? I think I know what happened, but I can’t…discuss it right now. Hive is fine, your powers are fine, the rest of your bugs aren’t going to do anything you don’t tell them to do. ”

“Unless, _I_ tell them to do something; I don’t plan on doing that though.” Three sets of eyes looked at the collection of bugs that was grouped up into, roughly, the shape of a person. Hive held up its hands and its ‘mouth’ smirked. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Carry on.”

“This is weird…” Madison said frowning looking back at Taylor as she rubbed at her head.

“Tell me about it,” Taylor said shuddering, “Will you just go away? We don’t need you at the moment, I’ll pull you together later if that changes.”

“Whatever you say; see you next time you need me,” Hive said, waving as the swarm dispersed into a small cloud of roaches, bees and spiders an instant later. Taylor’s posture slumped over as the swarm vanished into the bushes though she perked up a bit as Amy reached over to massage her neck. Amy however paled at the touch and froze almost immediately.

Taylor noticed that Amy had stopped moving her fingers and turned to look at Amy gesturing with her hand towards the center of the small trio.

“I…I definitely know what it is. I fucked up when I healed you. Can we leave it at that for now? _Please_? I’ll tell you, but not when there’s an audience.” She turned to glare at Madison. Madison just nodded and finally moved to shift further away from Taylor.

“Oh, right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to get in the middle of anything, I just wanted to…you know. This is overwhelming. Um, can I ask a quick question?” Madison frowned, looking again between Taylor and where Hive had been. “While the two Capes thing does sound like a good plan to avoid being hurt, don’t you risk losing a lot of bugs all at once that way.”

“That was why I decided to go out myself too,” Taylor sighed. “Get more bugs while also shoring Hive up in the process. Mostly act as the Healer, maybe long-range attacker with just a few small clusters…It _was _working pretty well tonight, until Glory Girl punched my chest in.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach and grimaced.

“Okay, that makes sense I guess. So um,” Madison commented wringing her hands and steadfastly _not_ commenting on the latter half of that statement. “Did you both still need that operations base? I could tell you the address for the factory if you’re interested?”

A little color returned to Amy’s cheeks and the ghost of a smile spread over her face. “Does it have a bed? If it does, we are definitely interested.”

“I think there’s a pullout couch there still.”

Amy and Taylor just smiled. For the first time in months, Madison felt like she was actually doing something right for once.

* * *

_Emily Piggot_

Some days it just wasn’t worth waking up. This was shaping up to be one of those days for Emily Piggot, though to be fair, it had been ‘one of those days’ almost constantly since Costa-Brown had made her Director of this horrible shithole of a city. She closed the report on her desk and did her best not to scowl. The room full of capes did very little to help that urge.

“Will someone please explain to me just how Shadow Stalker has managed to slip her leash so far? Please? Because for the life of me, all I see when I read this report is that the little bitch should have been executed months ago. I’m not even talking about by us, I mean by the goddamn Empire! She’s flaunting this shit as a black girl against a white girl in a school with Empire grunts running around! Has she tried to murder the idiots that they’ve sent after her too? Well? Where’s _that_ report?!”

Armsmaster shifted from side to side in his chair before ultimately leaning forward and holding his hands in front of him. “Ma’am, we believe that she used the backing of the other girl, Emma Barnes, and the fact that Barnes’ father is a lawyer to avoid having the Empire come after her.”

“He’s a _divorce_ lawyer!”

“That is not very widely known.”

Emily snarled and threw the paperwork into the center of the table. “Aegis!” The Ward in question flinched and sat up straighter. “Is this in character for her?”

“Yes, Ma’am. She’s a loose cannon. Always has been. It’s really hard to even make sure that she sticks with her partner for her whole patrol. Sometimes we don’t even bother because it was - ”

“Stop talking. You are no longer team leader, Gallant is. Actually, no, he should’ve picked up on this too considering his power. Clockblocker is team lead.” Emily had to take several deep breaths in order to get her anger back under control. She should’ve been aware of this long ago. “I want Shadow Stalker in custody before the hour is out. I want her interrogated, I want all of her personal property searched. Both civilian and cape. This is no longer just a civilian issue. What the little shit did was nothing short of attempted murder and if she has been that way in her civilian life I _shudder_ to think what she was doing as a _cape_! While on _unsupervised patrols_!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” echoed several voices from all around the table.

“What do we know about the Hebert girl? Has she pressed charges?”

Miss Militia took over from there and shook her head. “She has not. Actually, once Panacea healed her at the hospital - ”

“Christ, it required Panacea’s intervention?” Emily interrupted. “I missed that part. This just gets worse and worse. Go on.”

“As I was saying, once she was healed and left the hospital, it’s like she just vanished. She stopped attending school almost entirely. The days she’s been back since the incident can be counted on a single hand with fingers left over.”

“Home life?”

“Single parent household. Mother died several years back and by all accounts her father basically ignores her and is focused solely on his work.”

Emily’s scowl was firmly back in place. “If that’s not the recipe for a trigger event I don’t know what is.”

“I agree, and considering how Hive pointed us directly at this, I would tend to say that she _is_ Hive.”

Assault leaned forward at that. “Wait, I thought that Hive was a Case 53. Do you think the Hebert girl is the bug girl or is controlling the bugs like a projection and just faking it?”

Miss Militia shrugged. “It could really be either, though I would tend to say the latter. I checked and she was at school while I had my meeting. That was one of those vanishingly few days of attendance. Rather strange coincidence wouldn’t you think?”

Assault leaned back and whistled. “That’s some impressive range if she’s remote controlling the swarm from that far. That’s what, 9, 10 blocks?”

“11 actually.”

Emily shook her head. “Mark Hebert down as a Master 7, Changer 1, just to be safe. Someone reach out to Panacea to see if the girl was cape when she was healed. That might help to put this to bed. If not, leave her filled in as Hive until told otherwise. Now what’s this about a Queen?”

“Hive recruited her last night supposedly,” Battery supplied. She hit a button on a remote and a small projection of the swarm girl along with a cape in a grey bodysuit with a vaguely insectoid mask and small wings on the back running along the street towards ABB terrority. “She is bug themed as well. Most of the reports are just rumors at the moment, though we did get something from a girl who claims to have been saved by the duo about an hour ago. This girl said that Queen controlled small clusters of insects and seemed to be more acting as a lookout while Hive handled most of the combat.”

Emily narrowed her eyes at the screen and shook her head slowly. “Clever girl. Tactical. She doesn’t have a team so she’s keeping herself out of danger by leveraging our misunderstanding against us. Keeps her real self out of the fight using her range, while her proxy fights the close-in personnel. Up her Master rating to an 8. If she has that much control to run two things at once she has a lot of potential to be dangerous. Militia are you certain she won’t be joining the Wards?”

Miss Militia sighed and hung her head. She pointed at the files that Piggot had tossed into the center of the table. “I get the strong feeling that she knew that Shadow Stalker was a Ward. I feel that she may have accidentally figured it out through her power during one of the days that she was back at school following the incident. She was attending for several days in a row and then, with apparently zero provocation, she just stopped. If Shadow Stalker used her power on the grounds in an attempt to get at Hebert when she thought she was unseen and the girl had eyes on her in an attempt to prevent further attacks…”

“Perfect. If she can see through her goddamned swarm when it’s NOT person-shaped, then we need to pin a Thinker rating on her too. Make it a 3,” Emily groaned.

Armsmaster jotted a note and nodded. “Going back to the previous comment, if she knew that her tormentor was with the Wards or even just a cape in general, she probably suspected the school was sheltering her.”

“Which it _was_,” Emily spat. “I’d have fucking Blackwell’s head on a pike if I could. We do not need this type of publicity.”

“If she thought that, then she might have thought the entire organization was sheltering her. It’s a wonder we don’t have a new villain blanketing the entire school in poisonous spiders.”

Battery nodded. “All the more reason to try again with this girl. She obviously has a good heart. We have a chance here. Let’s show her that the PRT and the Protectorate can do some good. That we can fix our messes.”

Emily shook her head slowly. “If I was Hebert, I wouldn’t trust us at all. She’s isolated and has built an entire second cape persona to hide how alone she is. Approach her with caution. Keep trying to get her to come in. Don’t escalate. We don’t know the upper bounds of her range and at the moment she’s playing nice. Let’s not change that.”

She set her hands onto the table top and looked at everyone around the table. “Now, are there any other fires I need to address?”

“Canary is in the holding tank at the Rig,” Armsmaster said. “She should be moved to the Birdcage in about two weeks. We’re currently just waiting to see if there are going to be any others on the transport with her, but without any recent captures, I doubt it. I apologize for missing Lung the other day Ma’am. That would’ve been a big win for the city.”

Emily sighed but waved it off. “It would’ve been. You can’t really expect to subdue that monster when he’s already ramped up like that though. I’m honestly just happy that the fight didn’t end up killing anyone.”

“He did injure two of the Undersiders before they ran off in the confusion,” Armsmaster said frowning.

“Yes, but they weren’t killed, so mission success. Anything else?”

Assault held up a hand, his phone in his other hand. “Director? Photon Mom is on her way up. I think we need to hear what she has to say.”

Emily’s scowl returned. She was going to need dialysis after this meeting, she just knew it. “Let her in.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before Sarah Pelham, half in her Lady Photon costume, half in civilian clothes walked through the doors and dropped bonelessly into the nearest chair. Everything Emily had been about to say dropped out of her mind seeing the expression on the other woman’s face. The doors shut and thankfully, Miss Militia took the lead.

“Sarah? Are you alright? Did…did someone die?”

“Amy’s gone. She’s not with New Wave anymore.” The room went utterly silent at the despairing declaration. “I did everything I could, but it was too little, too late. She was hurting so much, and I didn’t even notice until it was too late.” Sarah leaned forward and held her head up in her hands. “I can’t give details. It’s private. I can tell you she’s safe for the moment. She’s not with villains. She’s with two new capes, Hive and…Queen I think. Amy seemed to know one of them at least. I think they had met before. I think they were friends. I can’t…she’ll call if she needs help. I don’t know if she’s still going to heal. She has her phone. You’ll have to call her directly to check with her if you have people who are hurt. I just, I don’t know.”

Emily nodded. “Thank you for telling us, Sarah. If you need a bed to sleep for a few hours, it’ll be made available to you.” Sarah just nodded and let Battery lead her out of the room.

As the doors shut again, Emily looked over the rest of her staff. “Alright, what in the _fucking hell_ happened last night?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: ‘Silencio’. A Taylor/Amy fic. In this one Taylor is rendered mute after the locker due to damage to her vocal cords and she ends up with invisible projection powers ala mimes. She decides to go with that theme, joins up with the Undersiders almost immediately, gets mistaken for a boy in costume and has a meme harem while Miss Militia manages to get civilian Taylor hooked up with Amy in the meantime. Also Coil decides that his best path forward is to have the Undersiders rebranded as heroes and frames their jobs as taking out corrupt people. It’s utterly hilarious and Taylor's powers are complete bullshit in-universe which is even more fun! While it’s currently a dead fic there a large amount of story there and it went past Leviathan!


	6. Deviance 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This chapter gives a bit of a sideways look at how Danny uses his power and the effects of it. Since the full explanation is a while off yet, for the moment, just suffice it to say that there is a reason that his conversation with Taylor is so easily handled and non-confrontational on both ends.

**Deviance 01**

“This place is actually rather nice considering Madison’s family doesn’t really maintain it regularly,” I commented as I fell back on the small bed. She had been right, there was a pullout couch, though the mattress was a far cry from comfortable. Amy and I had just barely managed to get the bed out after we found the place before she had nearly collapsed onto it, rolling into a small ball with her face covered by her arms. I was at least able to get most of my costume off and roll it up on the floor with my shoes before I followed after her and laid back as well. The bed wasn’t quite big enough for the both of us, but Amy was small and she was already curled up so I just moved enough so that I wasn’t quite falling off the bed and it worked well enough. It was a bit awkward, though after the night I’d - _we’d_ \- had, this was the least awkward thing that seemed to matter.

“Do you have to go home?” Amy’s voice floated up through her hands.

I checked the time on my watch, 6:30am. “Nah. My father is probably already gone by now anyway. And even if he isn’t…actually, hang on, we might be…holy cow, we are!” I levered myself up and grinned at her over her shoulder. “We’re close enough that I can actually send some of my swarm to check in on my house. Give me a minute and I’ll just make sure that…”

“Taylor,” Amy whispered, her voice so quiet that if I didn’t have a fly on her shoulder I probably wouldn’t have heard her. “Can you, can you focus here. I need to tell you something.”

I let the bee cluster that I had been sending towards my house drift back into its normal patrol pattern and laid my head back down onto the pillow. “Sure, Amy. What’s up?” While I _could_ still multitask, it seemed only polite to follow her wishes. She had saved my life after all.

“When I heal, I don’t always focus on…on everything. Not all at once. It gets overwhelming to fix everything. And sometimes I can’t. When someone is hurt bad, I prioritize.”

“That makes sense.”

“I see a person’s whole biology with a touch, so I know everything that is wrong. My power catalogues it and flags any and all issues. But it changes constantly. So I…work it down. My power though, it can do more than I can focus on at once. So I’ve taken to setting it on autopilot for…the small things. Minor cuts and abrasions and contusions, that sort of thing.”

“I don’t know what that is, Amy,” I murmured“Scrapes and bruises. Anything simple. Things I don’t have to worry about, things that my power can just - _fix_. I focus on the big thing, the gaping hole or the…broken floating rib about to puncture your stomach, and my power fixes the minor problems on its own.”

“Ooookaaaay.” My chest started to tighten at that.

“When I got to you, you were _really_ hurt, Taylor. Really hurt. Vicky nearly destroyed your rib cage and bruised your heart in addition to cracking off your rib. I think she thought you were a Brute or that Hive was going to give her more resistance or something. Either way, she hit you hard enough that I was only paying active attention to your chest cavity when healing you. Everything else was on autopilot. You shouldn’t have been hurt anywhere else. The leg was minor. Just a few scrapes.”

“But it wasn’t that simple, was it?” I asked, my mouth going dry.

“Had,” Amy stopped and I heard a sniffle from her before she continued, “had your construct started acting somewhat independently before I healed you?”

“A little, but only when I sent too many emotions to it. It was weird, but nothing that I was…worried about. I was still in control. It was just, I don’t know…antsy? I don’t mean that as a pun. Please don’t take that as a pun,” I mumbled grimacing.

Amy didn’t even groan at my unintentional bug humor. She just curled up tighter on herself. “That makes more sense then. When I healed you, a lot of your mind was still in the swarm. But you shouldn’t have been, you _should _have been in your own head. Except you can split yourself off like that because of how your power works. And my power knew that. It cataloged your construct, the split, as an injury. And I…fixed it. I fixed it while I was busy focusing on your chest because I didn’t even realize that there was anything else going on until it was too late to do anything about it. It was just a simple switch. One flick and what was a somewhat _muddy_ division became _clear_.”

I swallowed and thought through my words before I could get up the courage to say anything. “Can you, can you define ‘clear’?”

“Hive is running on your subconscious now. It’s still using your power, but it’s a subset. You should be able to take active control, but when you don’t, it’s almost like an…like an alter ego? I doubt it’ll be able to take control of any new bugs itself, though it may be able to control ones already in your swarm if you don’t override it. It may also be able to form itself because technically _you_ want it to form. At least part of you does.”

I stayed very quiet at that comment carefully thinking through everything that Amy had said. This should feel like a violation. She had changed something fundamental about me and how my powers worked. I now had a clingy second personality apparently that I wasn’t fully in control of with, at minimum, a 12 block radius that could do _whatever_ my subconscious wanted within…god if I got into a bad enough place it would probably go out and try to kill someone…like Emma, or Sophia. Or dad. I shuddered.

And yet…Amy hadn’t done this intentionally and she _had_ saved my life. And she’d told me. She’d told me - wait. _Fuck!_ “Amy,” I said, pushing myself up and laying a hand on her shoulder. I pulled her just hard enough that she rolled onto her back. Her eyes were wide and there were tears running down the sides of her face. My heart went out to this frizzy haired girl who looked seconds away from bolting out the door of the office. “Amy, can you work on brains?”

“…Yes,” the answer was so soft it might as well have been carried by the wind. 

“Damn,” I muttered. She made to move, but I didn’t let her. I shifted my arm and wrapped her into a hug. “It doesn’t matter. You fixed me. This…I can deal with this. I can…I can live with it.” Amy sobbed into my shoulder, her head crushing against the crook of my neck and her arms wrapping around my waist. “It’s okay, Amy. You didn’t mean to do anything wrong; you didn’t do anything wrong. You saved my life and I can work with this. I mean, it’s just my subconscious right? I just need to stay positive and everything will be fine. Unless you can, you know, change it back?”

“NO!” Amy’s head shook so hard I thought she was going to give me a burn for a second. “No! I can’t work on brains! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, please don’t ask me to, please! It’s too easy, it’s too _simple_! Just look at what I did to you without even meaning to, Taylor! I _broke your powers_! I made your construct into something you have babysit because I wasn’t paying attention. I could change someone and never be able to change them back to who they were before! I can’t work on brains, I can’t. Please don’t ask me to, please!”

“Okay, okay, I understand. You don’t have to, Amy. I was just asking. It’s okay.” Fuck. There went the easy option. What was that Earth Aleph saying then? Constant Vigilance. Right. I’d just have to be careful and watch myself and watch Hive. I could do this. Better than giving Amy a mental breakdown. Which…she may already be having, judging by the crying and the babbling. Perfect. I was already freaking out and fighting off the shaking myself! How was I supposed to deal with calming her down too? I needed to call someone for help.

Yeah? And just who was I supposed to call? Madison? Tattletale? Miss Militia? That was basically my contact list. I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh as I squeezed Amy back. Apparently, my train of thought was utterly lost on her as her own crying slowed and she pulled her head from my shoulder to look at me. “Taylor? Are-are you okay?”

I just kept laughing and shook my head. “I was trying to think of who I could call for advice, or to get help, or who to just talk about this shit to. My conclusion? I need more friends.”

“Huh?”

“You. Madison. Tattletale. Miss Militia. My Father. Your aunt. That’s who’s in my phone right now, Amy. Lot of good all of them are going to do on the therapy front, huh?”

Amy just blinked up at me and subtly shifted her hand so that it was touching my upper arm. Her eyes widened. “Um, Taylor, maybe you should bleed off some of your emotions to your swarm?”

“Not sure I want to do that with Hive in the background right now, Ames,” I said finally getting my giggles under control. I rolled over and laid an arm over my face. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be fine. I was perfectly able to deal with my problems before I got my powers. I can still deal with this stuff. It’s just been a long night.”

“Yeah. It has.”

Of course, that was when my phone - my _new_ phone - started to ring. Groaning, I grabbed for it and flipped it open barely even pausing to look at the name on the little window. “Tattletale I - ”

“There’s no time. If you’re in your house, _get out_! I don’t know how he found out, best guess is the PRT, either way it doesn’t matter, he knows who you are. Get out!”

My stomach dropped and suddenly my decision to stop my surveillance this morning seemed like the stupidest idea in the entire planet. “I’m not at home.”

Tattletale breathed out deeply enough that I could almost hear her fingers unclench from the phone. “Good. That’s good. Don’t go home. He’s about to call. Don’t go home. I’ll contact you again when I’m able.” The line when dead a moment later and I pulled the phone away from my ear to stare numbly at it“Fuck.”

Amy just looked between me and the phone. “What just happened?”

“My father knows I have powers apparently. And maybe the PRT does too…” Amy’s eyes narrowed to slits and her mouth narrowed to a thin line.

The phone rang again almost making me jump. Instead I tried to swallow the bile rising in my throat and carefully opened it while raising a finger to my lips as I looked at Amy.

“Hello, Taylor,” my father’s voice came through the small speaker. He sounded far more awake than he usually did this early in the morning, even assuming he’d long since finished his coffee.

“Hi, Dad…” I mumbled back.

“How are you this morning?”

“Fine I guess,” I managed to get out through the lump in my throat.

“Were you planning to go to school today?” How was he being this mundane? We’d said maybe a dozen sentences to each other in the past three weeks and _this_ was how he led a conversation after finding out I had powers?

“...Err, no, not really.”

“I’m not really surprised; you haven’t attended much from the messages I’ve received. If you wish, I can help you get the tools for a GED.”

“Um, thanks Dad.” Seriously, what in the everloving hell was going on?!

“Of course. There are benefits to being my daughter after all.”

I frowned. Ah, there it was. Now we got to it. “A GED is fairly simple, Dad.”

“I think we both know I’m not necessarily talking about just the GED, honey.” No, no we were not. And didn’t he sound smug about it.

“...How did you find out?” There wasn’t much point hiding. Besides, that comment was ambiguous enough that he’d have to work for it and he could interpret it any way he wanted to.

“I have eyes and ears in many places child. The PRT knows many things and they are not nearly as taken with your scheme as you had thought. It was rather ingenious though and I commend you on the attempt. I can tell you more about the details when you get home.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well we’re not fighting, Taylor. There are many benefits to being a part of my organization. I’m working to improve the city after all. You could be a part of that.” I could practically see him shrugging through the phone line.

“You’re a supervillain,” I said, my voice more surprised than accusatory. This conversation was not going at all like how I had expected or planned.

“That’s a label. My plan has been approved by Accord and others. Your mother died because this world is broken. I’m going to fix it, Taylor. Help me.”

I shook my head and screwed my eyes shut. It was too much, it was all just too much. “I...I can’t deal with this right now.”

“I understand. I’ll be here when you’re ready to come home, Taylor. And please let me know if you wish for me to take any action against the Barnes or if you want to let the PRT mop things up for us.”

For the second time that day the line went dead and I was left staring at the phone in my hand.

This time, it was me that curled into a ball and cried while Amy tried to wrap herself around me.

* * *

I don’t know how long I stayed like that, though it was long enough that sunlight started to fall through the window on the nearby wall and make its path up the bed. Eventually I managed to get myself under control and pulled my body up into a sitting position, Amy not far behind. I wiped my eyes and looked around the factory’s office a bit closer. “We’re going to need to get a better bed in here if we’re going to stay long term now,” I said sighing“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “At least the TV works. Pretty nice setup too, for this type of place.”

“Madison isn’t loaded like Emma, but she wasn’t poor like…actually, if my father is a supervillain what the hell are we doing living in a lower middle class neighborhood near the edge of the gang territory?”

Amy shrugged. The pull-out was small enough that I felt her shoulders move against mine. “Maybe he wanted to stay under the radar?”

“Yeah. And make my life miserable just like everything else in this stupid godforsaken town has conspired to try and do.” I had one of my flying clusters bring me a piece of paper that had been balled up in the corner just so that I had something to throw. Surprising even myself, I managed to get it in the wastebasket on the first try. “I need to go for a run to clear my head and if my father is gone I’ll see if I can get some of my things from home. Are you going to be okay here for a bit?”

“I think so. If I’m going to be staying here and working with you for now, I want to try and help. I’m not just a healer, Taylor. I can make things too. I’m a full biokinetic. I can make you better bugs. While you’re gone, I’ll see what I can do to make something a bit sturdier for your swarm. Maybe give you a bit more firepower, make Hive more durable.”

I blinked and looked over at her. “You don’t have to do that, Amy. You can just hang out. That’s perfectly fine. I didn’t say I’d look after you because I expected anything in return.”

“You’re dealing with my shit and I messed you up. I want to help however I can,” she said, her mouth set and her shoulders square.

Smiling, I leaned over and bumped her shoulder. “Well, thanks then. But don’t stress yourself out too hard. Consider it a side project okay?”

As I got up to stretch and reach for my shoes Amy reached for my sleeve and grabbed my hand. “While you’re out, can you grab some snacks? M&Ms and Skittles? Also, I…I need clothes.”

I looked her over and shook my head. “I don’t think you’ll fit into any of mine. I’m too tall. But I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be back in a bit, Amy.” I hadn’t even made it across the room before Amy’s phone rang. With the way she grabbed for the phone and held it away from her, you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was a piranha that was going to bite her hand off. “Amy, you know, you don’t have to…”

“I should, whoever they are, they’ll just keep trying,” Amy muttered. She flicked the screen and held it up. Apparently she’d left it on speaker since the caller was loud enough for me to hear as well. “Hello?”

“Panacea? This is - ”

“Don’t call me that!” Amy practically snarled into the receiver. I grimaced and moved back to lay a hand on her arm. She took a deep breath and continued in a smaller voice, “I’m not Panacea anymore. If I’m Panacea then I’m acknowledging that I’m working with New Wave and I’m _not_ working with my family right now. Don’t call me that.”

“Of course, we had heard that. I apologize. What should I call you?”

Amy worked her mouth without anything coming out and looked up at me. I could only shrug in response. It took me weeks to come up with my own name and that was still borderline villainous, there was no way I was going to be able to help her out here. “Just…just Amy for now. I’ll - think of something soon. Is this Miss Militia?”

“Yes. Your aunt came to us this morning, Amy. She was worried and wanted to let us know that you had - left. I wanted to call and make certain you were okay.”

Amy shut down. If I hadn’t been so used to seeing it in the mirror for the past year and a half I might have missed it, but now, seeing it right in front of me was almost scary. Her muscles locked up and her eyes unfocused while her nostrils flared and her fingers clenched. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Forgive me, Amy, but you don’t sound fine.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“You are welcome to come and stay with the Wards in the PRT building for a few days if you would like…”

“Yeah? And subject myself to Shadow Stalker’s needling?” Amy scoffed. I tensed at Sophia’s hero moniker though Amy didn’t seem to notice. “No thanks.”

“That issue may not be a problem for all that much longer. Please, we’re just worried about you, Amy.”

“Worried about me continuing to _heal people_ right?”

“That was not what I said.”

Amy’s hand clenched into a fist and a scowl crossed her face. “But it’s what you’re thinking. It’s not enough that your leaky organization betrays my friend, now you have to call me not five minutes later and beg me to get back to the _fucking hospitals_! Is it so much to ask to get just one day off?!”

“Amy - ”

“No! Fuck you! I’m not going to the hospital today. I don’t know when I’m going back. Call me if any of your precious heroes are dying otherwise leave me alone!” She stabbed at the phone and the line went dead.

I squeezed her arm and resisted the urge to say something as she turned to look at me. There was a small sheen over her eyes though no tears spilled. Instead of pushing, I waited for Amy to say something first.

I didn’t have to wait long. “I can’t heal right now, I just can’t. Do you…am I a monster for needing time to just, I don’t know, recharge?”

Shaking my head I pulled her into a hug. “Everyone needs time to recharge, Amy. You’re not a monster; you’re human. Do you want me to stay here for a while? I can call Madison or something to get us some food and pick up some clothes for you. Hell I could probably call Tattletale too. She’d jump at the chance to prove she could be useful.”

“Tattletale?” Amy asked pulling back and staring up at me with her mouth hanging out.

“She’s…being screwed over by Coil too and isn’t happy about it. I don’t trust her, but we’ve agreed to sort of work sideways with each other until she can prove where her loyalties are. She was the one who called me earlier to warn me not to go home.”

“Oh.” Amy frowned. “Maybe she does actually mean it when she says she wants to help.”

“I think she’s mostly in it for herself, but I’ve overheard enough conversations between her and my dad that I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, so long as she doesn’t screw us over. He’s changed enough that I’m not taking his threats lightly.” Trying to lighten the conversation a bit I smiled and poked her shoulder. “And you haven’t answered my question.”

“I’ll be fine. I want to try working on making you a new bug anyway. Go for your run. I saw a shower here when we came in, so don’t worry about going easy. Even if there wasn’t, I could give you the same lilac-style bacteria I make for myself when I work out.”

The only appropriate response to that was to gape for a few moments. Finally, my brain caught up with my mouth and I was able to articulate a response. “I’m sorry, what?” Not a very verbose response though.

Amy giggled. “I don’t like to smell, so a few months back, I altered the bacteria on the surface of my body that produce odors into a different strain. Its byproduct gives off a scent of lilacs instead of the normal gross sweat smell. I saved the memory of the strain and now whenever I workout, I smell like lilacs.”

“That is not fair. That is not fair at all. That is downright _cheating_.”

“When you have powers…”

“Cheater,” I stated with a mock glare as I got up from the bed and moved back to the door for the second time. Amy stuck out her tongue at me in response to my teasing.

Amazingly, this time, nothing prevented me from leaving. With any luck, I might actually be able to decompress a bit on this run and finally, start to relax.

* * *

You’d think by now I would know not to tempt fate. Apparently not so much. I was three-quarters of the way through my run when my patrol clusters felt a disturbance on the edges of my range. A motorcycle appeared to be angling towards my home from the turns on the roadway and it was angling closer and closer as it came. I focused closer on the cycle and the rider and sucked in a breath.

Miss Militia.

Fuck.

Twisting mid-stride, my leisurely jog turned into a mad sprint, as I sent multiple clusters out. One went to my house while several went towards Militia. She was three blocks out from the house when the first cluster of flies reached her. I tried to make an arrow but she had just left a traffic light and they were left behind before she even seemed to notice they had existed. Okay. Plan B. The second cluster of honeybees, I stationed further ahead. These were near a stop sign and were sure to get her attention.

Unfortunately, she missed those as well thanks to an unlucky passing car. Two blocks to go.

The cluster of roaches and spiders were entering my home now. Fuck. My dad _was_ still there. He hadn’t been lying about staying at home. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_!

No more Nice Cape. I positioned the next cluster directly in front of Miss Militia’s face as she made her next turn. She’d have to run right into this one and she’d either see the arrow or she’d get a face shield full of bugs and she’d have to pull over _anyway._

Oh good. She saw the damn arrow this time. She slowed about a block away from my house and followed my arrow, turning onto a side street. I didn’t take a breath of relief since it was all I could do to keep breathing and stay conscious in my mad sprint to get to her before she showed up on my father’s doorstep looking for…me? Amy? What the _hell_ was _Miss Militia_ doing coming to _my house_?!

I had my cluster form a downward arrow in an alley that I was reasonably certain would be secure. She took the hint and parked the bike there, stepping off. I considered getting a mask of insects to cover my face, but considering she was driving right up to my damn house it didn’t really seem to matter very much at this point.

Yeah, my secret identity lasted a long time. Those ‘unwritten rules’ were a wonderful help for me…

I slowed as I finished my run around the corner of the alley and doubled over, hands on my knees, gasping for air and nearly collapsed against the wall. Miss Militia started to move towards me to assist though I managed to wave one hand towards her and lifted my head to glare at her.

Instead of trying to talk through my attempts to breathe, I pulled a few bugs from the swarm to me and keeping up my glare, I used them as my mouthpiece, “What the _hell_ were you _thinking_!? Coming to my house in broad daylight? Doesn’t this break every damn rule there is?”

“I’m sorry, I know this breaks decorum. I was intending to use the excuse of asking about an incident at your school involving a cape if questioned by your family. Honestly going by the records we’ve been able to find, I didn’t really expect there to anyone at home besides yourself,” Miss Militia said nodding to me. “I would’ve called to setup a more appropriate meeting, but I didn’t have your phone number. You have mine…but this isn’t really something that could wait until you called first.”

I tried to keep up the glare though I was forced to admit that she had a point. My dad was barely ever actually home and the only reason he was there now was to bait me into joining him, so…yeah. Shaking my head I huffed and let the swarm disperse, finally able to catch my breath enough to speak on my own. “How do you even know who I am and that I’m a cape?”

“Well, Miss Hebert, you told me.”

That brought me to a stop. When the hell had I done _that_? I’d had basically one interaction with Militia and it was as Hive. All I had done was say that Sophia had…oh. Crap. “Fuck. I said too much when I set you on Sophia didn’t I?”

Militia sighed. “Yes, I’m sorry, but you really did. She targeted you quite single-mindedly. Perhaps if she had spread her bullying around more it would have been different, but as it was,” she trailed off and shrugged. “You stopped going to school after the incident. An incident that has ‘trigger’ all over it, Miss Hebert. I’m sorry, but there is almost no way to investigate Sophia Hess and _not_ find you at the core of it.”

“Yeah, should’ve guessed having an alibi wouldn’t have helped. Went to school for nothing. Perfect,” I sighed, leaning against the alleyway. I tossed a slip of paper towards her with my new phone number on it. I really hoped that Tattletale had gotten a good plan for this phone. “Whatever. Here, this is my number. _Don’t_ come to my house. Call me next time you need to talk. Now what is so important that it couldn’t wait?”

“First, allow me to clear up a matter?” I waved her on. “Are you indeed the swarm or is it a separate entity from you? Judging by how you were speaking through it a few minutes earlier I would tend to say the former, though I would be remiss not to at least ask.”

I frowned and looked at her. “It’s…complicated. Let’s just say that I control the swarm and leave it at that.”

“So you _are_ Hive and Queen then?”

“I am Queen in costume and Hive is part of my powerset yes.”

“Your range is impressive.”

“Yes.”

She stayed quiet for a few seconds though I knew phishing when I heard it and wasn’t going to give her anything on that aspect at all. She held up a hand in surrender and moved on. “As to what I was coming to speak about: Lady Photon came to talk with us this morning. She had mentioned that her niece was staying with you as of last night.”

So this _was_ about Amy. I shouldn’t be surprised considering how that call had ended earlier. “That’s correct. She’s not at my house though so don’t bother going there to check.”

“Okay. I tried calling Amy this morning, she was not very keen to speak with me. I just want to make certain that she is okay. Her aunt was very worried about her. We all are.”

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. “Look, Amy is fine. Is she hurting? Yeah, she’s a teenager who’s going through some major trauma, we both are. But she’ll be fine. She’s my friend, I’m helping her, and I’m going to find someone who she can talk to if she needs it. You don’t need to worry about her freaking out and going off the deep end or anything. She just needs some time to get things together. God it hasn’t even been six hours and you people can’t even leave her alone for that long?”

Miss Militia held up her hands and shook her head. “That is not what I am saying, please don’t put words in my mouth, Miss Hebert. I am simply trying to make sure that she is okay and that she doesn’t need anything. Amy cut me off before I could finish that message. You’re assuring me of that at the moment so my job is done. Please let her know that she can always call either me in particular or the Protectorate as a whole and we will put her in touch with whoever she wishes.”

“I’ll pass it along,” I huffed. “Is that all?”

“Just two more things and then I’ll go.” She grimaced but soldiered on. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but I do have to ask: do you know if she intends to keep healing now that she is no longer with New Wave? There are legal ramifications if she does as neither of you are of the age of majority.”

I frowned, not having considered that. Not that it really mattered since Amy apparently wasn’t going to the hospitals anytime soon. “I honestly don’t know. It’s not my place to ask her. She has issues with it at the moment, that’s all I know. I’m not going to push her. Like I said, she’s my friend and I have very few of those. I have no intention of alienating the ones I do have.”

“While regrettable, that is understandable,” Miss Militia said. “Now for my last issue. You should know, Miss Hebert that steps are being taken to prosecute the personnel involved in the campaign against you, including the staff and faculty of Winslow. They were apparently receiving kickbacks for having a Ward on the grounds and Blackwell didn’t want to lose that. She, and the others involved, will be dealt with shortly.”

My eyes narrowed. Two days ago that would’ve been exactly what I wanted. Now…goddammit. “Leave Madison Clements alone.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Madison. Leave her alone. Everyone else is fair game, but leave Madison out of whatever reckoning you have going on. She apparently went nearly suicidal when she thought the other two had killed me. If I hadn’t told her I was alive the other day, I think she might have gone all the way in a few more weeks. She was as much a victim as I was just in a different way. I’m…working things out with her. Leave her alone.” 

“I’ll make sure to pass that along,” Miss Militia said, nodding. “Be that as it may, what I meant to say was that, with the assurance that there are consequences involved for crossing the line, and that we can clean up our messes, would you not consider working with the Wards, Miss Hebert?”

I rubbed my temples and looked down at the ground as my other hand waved towards the direction of my house. “Few problems with that, Ma’am. One, I just don’t trust you. Not you in particular. The organization. People like Shadow Stalker get in and are given enough free reign to do whatever they want until people like me _almost die_! I would’ve died if not for Amy. Second, and this is the big one, the PRT is full of holes. If I go there, I’m screwed. I can’t go home anymore thanks to you people.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Less than a few hours after you figure out who I am, a supervillain in this city learns my name, my Cape identity, where I live, and is calling me up trying to recruit me. I _can’t_ go home anymore, Miss Militia. Not that I like going home anyway, but now the option is closed, thanks to you. The PRT outed me to a supervillain. So thanks for that, good thing that Amy and I found a new place to hole up last night, huh?”

At least she had the decency to stagger back at that declaration. The way her power started shifting the form of the weapon in her hands almost every second was an even bigger indicator of how much on the defensive I had her. I didn’t have to tell her that the supervillain was my own father. “I-That’s-We never-_Who_?”

“Yeah, probably better if I don’t say. It’s a fairly cordial invite at the moment and I get the feeling I can still turn it down without him coming after me with a kill squad. So I’m just going to stay in my nice new lair for a while and let things cool down.”

“Your father - ”

“Either won’t notice I’m gone or won’t care. There’s a reason I’ve been able to get away with not going to school since January, Ma’am. Now are we done? Because I really need to find some food after sprinting here to keep you from tipping of the fucking _supervillain_ that I’m still around.”

“I…Yes, yes, we’re done. I’m sorry, I never meant to…”

“What’s done is done. This is half my fault anyway for tipping my hand. Just don’t go to my house. Call me if need to contact me again. Have a nice day, Miss Militia.” Without waiting for a reply, I turned and started jogging back down the way I had come keeping a few bugs on her to make sure that she left and _didn’t_ head towards my father.

All in all, that could have gone worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: ‘Queen of Blood’ by SirWill. In this one, Taylor is killed during the locker incident yet instead of triggering her power is highjacked by Dracul from Castlevania. Obviously a Castlevania crossover. Even coming from someone who knows nothing about Castlevania beyond ‘there’s vampires and Dracula in it…’ this fic was excellent. The universes fit well together and everyone is given a good amount of things to do. Its also complete with a sort of sequel in progress.


	7. Deviance 02

**Deviance 02**

I waited until I was a few blocks away from Miss Militia before stopping in another alley and pulling out my phone again. Shutting my eyes I took a few deep breaths before grimacing and making the call. This was going to bite me in the ass so bad…

"I knew you'd call soon enough Taylor," my father said before the phone had even finished finished ringing. I could _hear_ his smile through the line. Focus, Taylor, focus.

"You said that you have contacts in the PRT. I assume you have a general idea of what happened last night?" I replied.

He was quiet for a brief moment then he made a noise that could generously be considered a mewl of agreement. "If you are referring to how you've managed to get Panacea working under you, yes, I'm aware."

I managed not to snarl though it was a close thing. "She's not working under me, she's my _friend_. Look, can you make the PRT leave us alone for a few days or not? Just long enough for Amy to cool down for a bit."

He chuckled. "You know I can't _guarantee_ anything, Taylor. However, if you can keep your new teammate under control, I'll make certain that the PRT abides by a live and let live policy for the moment. I'll also email you the emancipation documents that Amelia will need if she wishes to continue healing at hospitals without attachment to a team with adult supervision."

I was quiet for several seconds before reluctantly muttering, "Thanks."

"You realize, of course, I'm going to bring up this favor at some point, right?"

"If it gives us room to breathe for the moment…I can deal with that. This is tiny in the grand scheme of this city anyway." I hated owing him, especially when I had done so well avoiding his notice for this long, but Amy needed time to unwind and I needed time to figure out what the hell I was going to do about my _life_ now. I could live with the consequences of a small deal with the devil.

"This is true." He was silent and I almost hung up, though he spoke up again before I had a chance to pull the phone from my ear. "Let me know if you need anything else. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you _are_ my daughter, Taylor. I do still care for you."

"Funny, I have a hard time believing that, Father. Thanks for the favor." I didn't wait for him to hang up this time - I hung up myself.

Pushing off from the wall, I jogged back towards my new lair. I felt dirty. How many more deals was I going to have to make with Coil just to make ends meet? How many more compromises was I going to be forced into? My dad was right about one thing, this city was broken, and it was a plague on everyone who lived in it. I was going to have to try to fix it.

First step was the gangs.

But before that, I needed to make my new home liveable. I slowed my jog and sighed, grabbing for the phone again. "This workout is so shot," I muttered to myself pulling up Madison's number. As her phone rang, I ran through a list of things that we would need and grimaced. Finally, she picked up and my grimace widened, god I really was going to be asking one of my former bullies for help getting clothes and furniture…what the hell had the world come to?

"Taylor? Why aren't you sleeping? You just left like three hours ago."

"Long night, long morning. I'll sleep later. I can't get back to my house right now so I need clothes. So does Amy. Can you do some clothes shopping for us and bring something by? Some food too? Also I need to know just how much power use you can hide regarding the factory. We're going to be using it a lot more than expected."

Madison was silent for a few moments then I heard a hum like her computer booting up in the background. "Hmm, honestly, I can probably make the factory disappear from the company records easily enough. It'll look like we sold it to a subsidiary, and between the two sets of data nobody will ever realize where the action records are let alone where the electrical bill is going. No one audits the little companies in Brockton Bay, because everyone knows that if you do, you could annoy the gangs by accident. While we don't have any holdings in their territory, the audit people don't know that for sure. Give me til noon and I can make you disappear. If you ever leave though, let me know so that I can give my dad his factory back."

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it for a moment. Shaking my head I said, "Seriously, what the hell where you doing with those two bitches? If you're that good with a computer you should have your own clique or at least be smart enough to stay away from Sophia."

"Sophia was…not what I expected," Madison sighed. "I thought she was a jock, not a psychopath. I don't know how to deal with psychopaths. Do you need anything else at the moment?"

"Don't suppose you can mail order us some more furniture? Like a real bed?"

She snorted. "Sorry, I need actual money for that. I don't have seed funds for that, Taylor. If you can direct me to some cash though, sure." She paused and continued on very slowly, "Though…if you really need it…I might be able to…direct something your way if I - "

Crap, she was talking about hacking one of stores and sending some of their deliveries to us - to me - wasn't she? God, when she talked about doing anything to make things up to me last night she had really meant it. How was I collecting mentally broken people? Including myself, this was what, three people in six hours? That must be some kind of record. "Don't. I'll figure something out, Madison."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm sure. Just take us off the grid and get us the clothes and food. I'll text you our sizes in a few minutes."

"Okay. Taylor, I…thank you for trusting me with this."

"Madison…" I rubbed at my temples and groaned. "Madison, don't go overboard. Just, don't be creepy about this and we can keep trying to work at the new slate thing."

"Got it. I'll be over later with the clothes and food."

Putting the phone away, I turned the final block and was met with a rather amusing sight in front of me. Amy was on the street jumping after what looked like a large butterfly as it flew away from her down the street. She missed her grab and it winged away as Amy jumped again, and missed again. She grunted as she fell on the street and the butterfly flew off down the road towards the nicer section of town. It was too far outside my range to grab so I just shrugged and walked over to Amy to help her up instead.

As I got close however, she turned her head and saw me, her face going pale and she jumped to her feet hands waving in front of her. "Taylor, you're back! You're back fast! Oh, um, everything's fine. Everything's perfect! Nothing's wrong _at all_! How was your run?"

Narrowing my eyes, I glanced from Amy towards where the butterfly had disappeared too. I tried to send a few clusters after it, but I hadn't gotten a good enough look at the thing besides 'large butterfly' to really be able to track it through the swarm. It would be like hunting for a needle in a stack of needles. "Eventful. Tell you about it inside. Everything is perfect here huh?"

"Absolutely perfect. Nothing wrong. I've got everything under control."

"Uh huh." I still kept trying to look for the butterfly though none of my critters nearby reported anything. Damn. Sighing, I turned back to Amy. Well, if it had been worth hunting down, she'd have told me. Hopefully.

"Look! I made you a bug!" Amy shouted and ran into the factory. I tried hard not roll my eyes at her declaration. I had gotten that impression fairly clearly Amy. Following along dutifully, I closed the door behind us and trooped up the stairs. As soon as we got near the office I felt the new critter and my steps faltered.

She…really _made_ me a _bug_. Holy crap. That had to be the single sweetest - and possibly creepiest - thing anyone had ever done for me before. I stepped into the office while still examining the bug through my power. Amy was holding it up in both hands as if it was the Holy Grail and smiling at me.

The thing looked like some sort of souped up Hercules beetle combined with a wasp and given bladed legs. It was like the wet-dream of one of those game designers from Earth Aleph. The bug was big, probably a little smaller than the size of Amy's palm, basically the size of a rat, though the three top blades from the Hercules beetle base gave it a more impressive forward girth. It had wings on its back much like the beetle, only larger. My power was telling me that it's exoskeleton was massively beefed up, as well as being reinforced with a rudimentary endoskeleton as well. In fact…"Amy, can this thing survive being _shot_?"

Her grin grew wider. "It's too small to _survive_, but it can _take_ a shot. The bullet will still penetrate, but all the energy will be gone. From small caliber rounds at least. If you cover yourself with these, even without the spider-silk suit, the worst you'd get from being shot at by an assault rifle is just some bruising. Anything larger though would probably still penetrate, and it wouldn't do to get too used to using them as a shield." And with a dramatic flourish she presented it to me. "I call him a bladebug! He can breed really rapidly so you can jump his numbers up too. You'll have to push him to do that though because I manually suppressed the mating urge. He doesn't reproduce unless you force him to. At least…he shouldn't."

"Yeah, we need to work on your naming, but I can see why you call him that," I murmured. The front two legs were mostly just sharpened blades like on his head. The back four legs were more traditional legs though their central mass were sharpened enough to be used as weapons as well. And it had a sharp stinger too. The stinger didn't have venom, though it also didn't separate like with some bees' stingers and it could be used like another knife. "Damn, Amy, this thing is awesome!"

"You really like him? You're not just saying that?" her voice was soft and she was looking at the floor as I shifted my focus from the bug to the girl.

Smiling, I took control of the bladebug and had him fly off to the side as I wrapped her into rib-cracking hug. "I _love_ him! Thank you, Amy."

"You're welcome," she whispered, leaning her head against my shoulder.

The bladebug did a nice little celebratory lap around the two of us as I kept squeezing my friend. I had a new bug for the swarm, an _awesome_ new bug for the swarm.

* * *

"Hello Hive/Queen, this is Lisapedia, you're on with New Name Pending. Please note this call may be recorded for blackmail purposes. How can I help you today?" the speaker in my phone chirped snarkily as I held it between me and Amy.

I gaped at the small screen for several seconds before I could bring my to reply with a strangled, "Seriously?"

"It's early, I'm stressed, and I've been running in circles trying to answer a question with bad data. Cut me some slack. What do you want Taylor?"

I looked at Amy and she just shrugged. Shaking my head I decided to let the weirdness of the morning continue unmolested. "A few things actually, _if_ you're still interested in proving that we can work together. You know, considering how my identity is rather blown to hell now."

There was no hesitation as Lisa immediately replied. "I'm interested. And concerning your identity, well I heard the nine o'clock news is running a piece on it, 'shortest lived secret identity'."

"Fuck you, Lisa," I snipped back at her though there wasn't any heat in it. How had I moved from frightened as a puppy about my secret identity to joking about it with a villain in less than a week? "Gah! First off, I'm partnered up with Amy Dallon now. She - "

"Ah. Well that fills in a few blanks. Let me guess. You guys have new digs and need to fill it up with ill gotten gains but don't feel comfortable doing so yourself, so you're asking the villain if she can use her own funds to purchase it 'legitimately' for you?" Lisa's question was more of a statement than I was comfortable with. And she was very close to the mark too. What even _was_ her power?

"Pretty close, yeah," I sighed. "I really would prefer it to be legal if possible, but I'm not going to ask questions. Like you said, you're a villain."

"What do you need?"

"A bed, an armchair, a dresser, a desk, a few lamps, microwave, fridge. Amy anything else?"

"Terrariums too if you can't get those from your home."

I shook me head. "I never kept those at home. They're in abandoned buildings all throughout my radius. We're fine on that front."

"Oh. Well, that's all I can think of at the moment if you had your friend getting the clothes and food."

"Madison isn't my friend. She's…I don't know what she is, a minion perhaps. But yes, she's getting that stuff."

"Wait, Madison?" Lisa interjected. "Madison Clements? SpecificProtagonist? You know THAT Madison? How'd you manage to get your groupie as your minion already? Ick! Also, geez, small world. I'll message her to see if she's bringing you over one of her old rigs too, knowing her she probably already already is, but if not I'll add it to the list. Send me the address and I'll arrange a drop off for later."

I groaned and held my head in my free hand. "I didn't realize that was Madison's screen name. Of course my bully has to be a creepy pervert too."

"Seriously, Taylor you're too easy to tease. It's a coping thing, don't read into it too much. Her online personality is divorced from her offline one. I help her out online occasionally. You said there was more that you had for me?"

Nodding I gave the thumbs up to Amy and she took over. "I'm almost certain I know who my biological father is, but most of my knowledge is from a letter and research with coinciding dates. Plus one conversation that was mostly yelling as I left home after the bank job your team pulled." There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments at that.

"Taylor did convey my apologies right?"

"She did."

"Right. Well forgive me, but I'm not going to say it again. We were in the middle of a job."

Amy gritted her teeth and squeezed my arm though she let up after a second. "I know, and as long as you don't do it again I'm not going to hold it against you. As I was saying, I THINK I know who my dad is. But I'm not entirely sure and I couldn't bring myself to ask Aunt Sarah before things came to a head last night. I also have no idea who my mother is at all. You're supposed to be good at figuring things out right? We want you to figure out for sure the names of my parents."

Lisa sighed. "Your dad should be fairly easy. Him I can guarantee. I'm almost certain I know who he is already, I just need to get the proof for you. Your mom is harder. I can't make any guarantees. My power doesn't work like that. I need a starting point and if your dad was smart he'll have wiped the records pretty thoroughly."

I pulled the phone back towards me. "Just do what you can. We're not my dad; we don't expect miracles. She just wants closure, Lisa."

"Yeah, that I understand. I'll see what I can find. Taylor, about the bank job…your dad had an ulterior motive. I'm trying to figure out what it was. The bank wasn't the real hit that day. I think we were a distraction. If you're going to try working around him - or, god forbid, making a deal with with him - be careful. He has plans moving a few layers deep at all times. He doesn't always mess with my powers, but when he does it knocks me out cold. The day of the bank was one of them and this morning was another. Be careful."

Ice settled in the pit of my stomach at that. What the hell was I doing trying to play in the big leagues? "Thanks for the warning. We'll be in touch."

Hanging up I turned back to Amy. She just laid a hand on my shoulder and the bladebug soared down to rest on her hand. Forcing a smile I patted her arm.

* * *

We decided to stay in the office after that. Both of us had apparently had too much excitement for the day, despite it having just barely started. Instead, I flipped the TV on, closed the bed back up into a couch and introduced Amy to the wonders of daytime television. The soap operas were all ones I had seen and none were interesting, though thankfully there was a movie playing on one of the cable channels that was pretty good. So we sat down to watch Aliens. A bit of screaming later and I had one glaring brunette with a death grip on my arm as I smirked at her.

"How have you never seen this?"

"My family didn't watch horror movies much," she grumbled as a commercial played. "And I'm starting to see why."

"Just think of all the inspiration you could get from this movie," I teased her. "Imagine a xenomorph going up against Lung! Or setting the chestburster against one of the Endbringers? I'd love to see…Actually I take that back. Nevermind. That's a really bad idea. Forget I ever said that. Please don't set a chestburster inside an Endbringer. The Aliens are bad enough when they have humans and dogs as the base. With an _Endbringer_ as a base? Yeah. Just no."

"They kill dogs too in this movie?!" Amy looked absolutely horrified at that thought and I felt bad for the urge to laugh.

"No." She calmed down though I couldn't resist the small grin that spread as I continued. "That's in Alien 3."

"We're not watching that one."

"Whatever you say, Amy."

"Is this one almost over?"

"You still have to see that Alien Queen."

Amy turned to look at me as the movie started up again. I ignored her for almost a solid minute. She finally had to poke me in the side of the head before I raised an eyebrow at her. "There's a _mother_?"

"It's badass. Seriously. Totally awesome. Probably should've won. If you think the sequels are canon it kinda did. That's even more awesome."

"Taylor. That's scary to an insane degree," Amy stated completely deadpan.

"And now you see why I think spiders and wasps are cool. Watch the movie Amy."

"I hate you," Amy groaned as she settled back down into the couch and twisted to stare glumly at the screen again.

A few more screams later and I was smirking as Amy reluctantly conceded that yes, the Xenomorph Queen was badass, and yes, Ripley had been both smart and lucky in beating it. Overall, I counted it as a win.

The movie was just finishing up as I took note of someone approaching the factory through my patrols. Redirecting the flies a bit closer for a better visual, I smiled as I got a good look at Madison. She had a large backpack on that seemed to be stuffed to the gills as well as several large shopping bags that were bigger than she was. How she had managed to get all the way here from wherever she had started without falling over was a mystery for the ages.

"Madison is here with the clothes and food. Let's go rescue our erstwhile minion before she falls and can't get up."

"Huh?"

"You'll understand when you see her." I stood and led the way down to the main floor opening the door for Madison just as she reached the factory proper. The smile she beamed at me as she walked in was radiant. I was just reaching for her to grab some of the bags when she apparently slipped on the lip of the door and tumbled through. Half the bags flew towards Amy, while the rest were sent skidding into the factory. Madison herself wound up on her knees in front of me with her head fairly close to my feet. Unable to resist, I pushed up my glasses and crossed my arms. "You know, Madison, while I don't require your suplicating worship, if you really feel the need, I suppose I can make an exception once or twice. If it makes you feel better that is."

Madison's face blushed a tomato red and she hurriedly pushed herself back to her feet. "I almost made it the whole it way from the bus without falling. This close, I was this close!"

Rolling my eyes I dusted off her backpack and helped grab some of the bags as the three of us trooped back upstairs. "Seriously, you okay?"

"Fine, just embarrassed. I brought you a computer too. I wasn't sure what type of desktop they had here so I thought you could use one of my older laptops. It's about a year out of date, but it runs fine, unless you want to use it for games or something. If you do, I'd have to get you a different rig."

"Yeah, we're just going to be using it to look things up and maybe play some movies. Thanks for the clothes," I said starting to shift through the things she had brought and move them into piles in different corners.

"And the food!" Amy commented tearing into a bag of candy. "I was starving."

"That's not the best for you Amy…" I muttered.

"I can change it into stuff that is biologically good for me if I really want to before I actually swallow it. I generally don't because it's gross to do that to junk food, but I _can_ if I need to."

Madison looked at the small piles of clothes that I was building and frowned. "Um, Taylor, where are you going to put all this stuff? I know you said not to get you more furniture, but you kind of need it."

"Got it covered. We're expecting another delivery at some point today."

"Oh. I guess that works then." Madison cupped her hands together and sort of swayed back and forth momentarily. She nodded and turned to the door. "Uh, I guess I'll just go then. Let me know if you need anything else."

I stopped my unpacking and looked at her slumped back. Grunting, I had a few bugs line up in front of Madison and form a hand waving her off. Curse me and my bleeding heart. "Madison, wait. Do you want to stay and watch a few movies with us?"

She sucked in a breath and looked at me with wide eyes. "You want me to stay?"

"Well you're my minion now. You have to do minion things. You've already fetched me things. Now you get to help me introduce my friend to pop culture that her family has sadly deprived her of. Sit." She smiled again and rushed to take a seat on the couch next to Amy.

As Madison curled her legs up under her and stole some of Amy's snacks while the next movie started up, I found myself wondering how in the hell this girl had ever managed to ingratiate herself with someone like Sophia Hess. How was she not eaten alive?

Shaking my head at the two as they fought over one of the candy bars, I leaned back on the couch, barely noticing as my head drifted to the side to rest against Amy's shoulder. The music on the TV swelled though I barely even heard it as my eyes drifted closed.

* * *

"Taylor! Taylor, wake up! You need to move Taylor, I need to shift the couch and I can't move it while you are sleeping on it."

"Huh? Wha," I slurred, blinking as I dimly registered the hand on my shoulder and the voice in my ear.

"You should just jolt her." Why did that voice sound familiar?

"You be quiet."

"If _I'm_ the one saying it, you know she wants it. Maybe she wants a bit of sass too."

"I said be quiet! You're creepy!"

"You know, you're practically like my creator in some ways, if you squint, so…what does that say about you?"

"Taylor, please wake up. Hive is being weird and creeping me out."

That was apparently what I needed to push my brain into action. My eyes popped open and I saw Amy standing over me with Hive in the corner of the room. My construct waved, the bladebug forming the core of one of its fingers. Its weird smile front and center on its face as it smirked at me. "Yo, wakey wakey. Delivery is here. I can help move the furniture if you want."

I tried for several replies, failing each time. Finally, I turned to Amy and gestured with empty hands towards Hive.

"Madison left about a half-hour ago. She had to get home for dinner. Hive formed a few minutes back, just after Lisa called to say that we should get the delivery soon. I…think you heard and it formed to…help."

"Its…you're bugs! You can't hold weight like that!"

"I can if Amy reinforces a few more of my critters like Mr. Pokey here," Hive said waving her bladebug finger towards us. "Come on, you know you want to experiment a bit more."

Amy looked between me and Hive. She frowned and half stood up as she shifted towards it. "I was thinking about how I could beef up the spiders to make them able to support loads better…you'd be grounded more though."

"Could you increase the silk production too? Gives me more options for takedowns without hurting people if I can wrap them up faster and stronger."

I held up a hand. "I'm sorry, are you conversing with my power?"

"Looks that way," Amy muttered. "I'll need to use the flies as base organic material for the modifications and I'm not touching the roaches. Not right now. They're…gross."

"They're really not, but sure, I'll let Taylor work on you for that. Just the spiders are fine." Hive shifted its composition and all of the non-spiders seemed to flow out of the construct and disperse around the factory leaving just a conglomerate of spiders and the single bladebug plus a small mass of flies lumped in the stomach region. It looked even less like a person now. And looking at it with my power was even stranger than normal since spiders weren't meant to _grip_ like that. Even when they were organized that was just wrong.

Amy apparently disagreed since she moved towards Hive and held out her hand. Despite my concern, I admit, it was fascinating to be able to see the changes happen in real time. The spiders didn't change visibly all that much besides bulk up a bit. Internally though, they gained a rudimentary endoskeleton like the bladebug as well as extra spinnerets and new glands to help with the silk production. They nearly tripled in weight though the extra pseudo-muscle-things that fit onto the new skeleton that Amy gave them more than made up for it. By the time she was done, I wouldn't be surprised if they really could help us move the stuff around the office.

"Amy," I said.

"Yeah," she replied stepping back from Hive with a small nod.

"That's really impressive. But next time you want to work on my swarm, please don't talk to Hive about it without talking to me first. Hive might be my subscious, but _I'm_ the one who should have control of the swarm. Not the construct. Okay? Talking to my power about my power is…it's just wrong. There are limits, Amy."

Amy licked her lips and turned back to me. "Right. I just wanted help. Sorry."

"It's okay. We're still getting to know each other and figure out our limits. This is apparently one of mine. In extremes it's fine. But if there is time, talk to me, not Hive. Cool?"

"Cool," Amy replied nodding vigorously.

"Awesome." I stood and glared over her shoulder. "And you. Stop looking smug. I would've thought of that eventually."

"Technically you did think of that."

"Hardee har har. Move the damn couch, Hive."

"As you command, Mistress," it said bowing with an overly embellished flourish.

Between the three of us, we managed to shift everything to one side, or out of the office entirely, just in time for the new things to arrive. The dresser was the perfect size and the lamps did a fantastic job of lighting up the place. How Lisa had gotten everything just right was a mystery for another day, though not one I particularly cared to put high on the priority list.

I was more inclined to berate her for her apparent continued need to troll me. She had sent a Queen size bed.

Amy and I heated up our dinners in the new microwave, watched one final movie and curled up on the new bed. While it was still a bit smaller than I had hoped, it was, at least, gloriously comfy. Especially compared to my old bed and the pullout couch.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah, Amy?"

"I…About what I had said the other day. About my sister…Do you think I'm horrible for feeling that way about her for so long?"

I rolled over and locked gazes with the brunette brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "For one thing, Amy, you said yourself, you never really had a choice. I would be a pretty horrible friend if I thought you were a bad person for something you couldn't control."

"When you put it like that it sounds like I'm being stupid for worrying," Amy murmured.

I chuckled. "You are. My dad is running a gang that controls a decent chunk of the city and is apparently aiming to control the rest as well. Compared to that, what's a bit of adopted sibling accidentally forced love?"

Amy frowned and shook her head as best she could while lying down. "You're not responsible for his actions, Taylor."

"I know. But I still feel like I should have seen what he was becoming a long time ago and been able to help stop him before he got so far along this path. Compared to me, you're _fine_ Amy. Besides, you walked away, right?"

"Yeah," she said softly. Then she smiled and said it again, louder and stronger, "Yeah! I did! I walked away. I chose to leave. I chose to leave _her_! I can keep walking away and I can choose where I go from here. I walk my own path."

"Yes you do. We both do." I shifted closer on the bed and pulled her into a hug which she eagerly returned, squeezing my ribs almost hard enough to bruise. "We got this, everything is going to be fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Carae Scientia' by Atrium Carceris. A Taylor/Lisa (basically my Holy Grail of Worm pairs of which badly needs more love…) on SpaceBattles. An excellent, long oneshot that explores what happens if Taylor randomly meets and starts hanging out with Lisa before ever going out as a hero. Eventually Taylor decides on her own to help Lisa with Coil by joining the Undersiders and realizing that she 'likes' Lisa and both mutually deciding they are willing to give it a go. Again, VERY excellent, especially if you are a fan of this ship!


	8. Deviance 03

**Deviance 03**

"Queen, this is very much _not fine_!" Amy's voice shouted at me through the Bluetooth earpiece.

Look at me, my bugs were getting upgraded, my team was getting upgraded, my tech was getting upgraded…Now I just needed to make sure my critters and I survived this hell night.

"I realize things aren't going according to plan, Darwin," I snapped back. "Any extraction plans from you or Watchtower? Preferably before Hive is blown to hell from Oni Lee?"

My construct was doing its best but this was not a good matchup for it at all. I had tried to take direct control when the ABB assassin ambushed us during a patrol yet that seemed to make things worse. The bugs making up my construct were sluggish when I grabbed them and reacted more like my usual clusters than the cohesive conglomerate. So instead I pulled back and ran around the corner, leaving Hive to do its thing.

It was managing to keep Oni Lee harried, to a degree, and the bladebug fingers I had bred for it had left a nice set of bleeding claw marks down one arm when Hive had gotten in a lucky swipe before Oni Lee had teleported out the second time. Unfortunately, Hive just wasn't maneuverable enough or quick enough for this fight. Oni Lee could appear anywhere at anytime. Each time he popped in, he left another grenade.

I had lost nearly a quarter of the swarm to the bastard already! Growling at yet _another _explosion, I bit the metaphorical bullet and shifted some of my anger and frustration into Hive. Maybe it could do more with the damn things than I could. I was basically impotent in this fight beyond finding Oni Lee for the few seconds before he teleported _again_.

"Queen, this is Ma-um-Watchtower. Can you pull him towards Fifth and Lawrence? There's an ongoing battle with the Wards and some E88 thugs. I think you should be able to lose him in the confusion."

I grimaced. "Not really sure I want to bait a crazy teleporter with grenades towards the Wards, Watchtower. What are our other options?"

I checked the cluster of wasps I had on the rooftop closest to Hive and my grimace got worse. Most of Amy's improved spiders were dead and we had lost nearly all of the bladebugs. Hive was down to a third of its regular size and Oni Lee was still going strong.

As I watched over Hive he popped onto a rooftop with a cluster of flies further out. These weren't even _biting_ flies so I couldn't do anything with them! Shifting my annoyance to Hive I also sent it some balancing emotions. It left me deadened a smidge, but the last thing we needed was for my partially independent construct to start going on a rampage against an opponent it couldn't touch.

"Queen, I don't know if you can hear me, but I will assume you can," the demon teleporter said, speaking directly to the small swarm of flies. I reeled back against the wall of the alley I was hiding in though I maintained enough sense to have the cluster bob up and down.

"Good. Lung intends this as payback for taking our property. I cannot find you, so your partner will suffer our full wrath. Normally a heavy beating or bloodletting would suffice, however that is difficult with one such as her so extreme measures are being taken. I'm sure you understand the idea of escalation and appropriate measures. Should she expire we consider the matter done. Should she not, we advise you to leave the ABB territory alone. This is the only warning your team will receive." He popped away back to the rooftop with Hive and left another set of grenades that my construct only just barely managed to avoid taking the brunt of as it momentarily dispersed again.

"Fuck this!" I snarled. Apparently I wasn't quite as emotionally dead as I had thought. No matter. "Watchtower, we're moving towards the Wards. Darwin, give them a heads up that they can expect Oni Lee in their midst shortly. I'm done letting this fucker play with us!"

I pushed off from the wall and began to run towards the intersection that my minion had highlighted while sending a mental call to what was left of Hive. It tangled with Oni Lee for one last teleport hop, then used his short break between jumps to surge off the rooftop and down the side wall into the street. The mass of bugs reformed into a smaller human body and took off running about four blocks behind me.

We stayed staggered as Oni Lee kept up trying to harass Hive. Small mercy of small mercies, he seemed to switch to a bat once my construct abandoned the roof. The bastard still took out a ton of roaches before Hive was able to surge away from the attacks, but at least that was better than grenades.

Ugh, my poor swarm. It was going to take me at least a week to rebuild my numbers from the losses in the last hour alone!

I heard the new battle before I saw it. Loud crashes and shouts sounded down the street such that I didn't even need to scout ahead with my bugs to find the source. I still DID to make sure I wasn't going to walk into a firestorm, but even so. They could do with maintaining a bit of quiet in the neighborhood.

Yeah, this coming from someone running from the mad bomber…

Skidding around the corner, I slid to a stop against a car next to Clockblocker and Kid Win. "Hi, did my teammate tell you I was coming?"

Both teenage heroes just stared at me for a moment as Alabaster continued to laugh and Rune threw another piece of asphalt towards the car. "Uh, you're Queen?" Kid Win asked as he looked over the hood of the car and fired a shot from what looked to be a genuine ray gun towards the hovering Rune. He missed by…a lot.

"That's me. Oni Lee is going to be here in about another 30 seconds along with Hive. Sorry. Needed backup; he was kind of tearing Hive apart and I can't touch him. Switch bad guys?"

Clockblocker just stared at me for a second before shaking his head. "You are as insane as Aegis warned us you were. I can deal with Oni Lee if I can tag him before he teleports. How the hell do you intend to take out Rune and Alabaster? You work with _bugs_!" This time, when Rune threw something at us, the car was rocked by a mailbox which nearly punched all the way through before coming to a stop in the passenger seat. "Damn it, power wore off!" Reaching out to the car, he touched it and frowned. "Win, can't you keep her grounded?"

"She moves too fast and I'm not a good marksman!"

"I am," I said, holding up a hand. Hive was only two blocks away now; needed to finish this up fast. "That's how I can take out Rune. The bug clusters give me a good idea of where things are apparently. Give me your gun and I can knock her out."

The two heroes cast looks between each other as another mailbox hit the car. At least this one bounced off it with a metallic clang and explosion of letters. Clockblocker's power was still going strong. I checked in with Hive and it sent a wave of frustration towards me. Apparently Oni Lee's bat was doing more damage than I had noticed originally. It was losing bugs and I didn't have the numbers to shore it back up. "Running out of time to decide. Oni Lee is going to see us in a moment."

More asphalt rained into the time-locked car and a second piece flew over it to smash into the street just beyond our heads. That was apparently enough for the white-clad hero. He nodded to his companion. "Win, give her your gun. Queen, if you can take down Rune do it. Otherwise, we maneuver the villains into fighting each other and pull out while waiting for Protectorate backup. Assault and Battery are already on their way."

"They won't make it," Watchtower chirped in my ear. "Kaiser is en route. You guys need to leave."

"How in the hell do you know that Kaiser is en route before the heroes do?" I asked grabbed the gun from Win and keeping a watch on Rune's circling protection of rocks through my nearby clusters. Both Wards jerked and stared at me. Clock held a hand to his ear and started yelling into whatever communicator he must have had though I mostly ignored him since that was when Hive rounded the last corner and started sprinting towards the melee. Alabaster also apparently finally decided he had had enough of letting Rune do everything herself when Oni Lee came into view still swinging his bat at my construct and started running down the street towards the rest of us.

"PHO lights up like a Christmas tree when E88 goes on the move," my earpiece chirped. "Also, I'm in the traffic light network."

"How the hell did you get into the traffic system?! Aren't those massively firewalled?"

"Not as much as you'd think. It does help that part of the work my dad's company does is installing the cameras. I'm backdooring through his account for the access. He's…not very good with passwords. With this setup it's pretty easy to follow people if you keep a second screen up showing where each camera on the network is located and then just chart the path on where they show up on the grid. The Empire reinforcement is Kaiser, Fenja, and Menja by the way. You've got maybe five minutes before they arrive."

"That means hurry, Queen! I don't have Glory Girl and Lady Photon to fly me to you if you get your chest caved in again or a metal spike shoved through you." Amy sounded like she was biting her nails the way her voice came through distorted. I wondered briefly if she was considering coming out with me next time to be closer to the action and better able to effect battlefield triage if needed. I'd have to talk her out of it if she was. She couldn't heal herself, the front lines weren't the best place for her.

"Anytime you want to shoot?" Win hissed. He had his eyes trained on Hive as it dispersed its bugs in an attempt to evade the bastard assassin. 500 feet to go. Alabaster on the other hand was even further out. Apparently being immune to death didn't give you a good running speed. I still had time.

"There's a lot of debris around her. She's not fully covered though," I said. Win and Clock were beginning to sweat. The flies I had on each could taste it through their exposed skin. Poor men had no confidence in me. That would change soon enough. "Her blocks rotate and she missed a section in her stone wall. I'm just waiting for it to come back around and…" Grinning, I twisted and raised my arm over the hood.

Rune saw me move and raised her hand. A piece of asphalt the size of a small dog started to soar towards my head. I was faster though. Squeezing the trigger on Kid Win's gun, a blue laser shot from the end and speared right through the opening in the rotating concrete coverage the E88 teenager was sitting in the middle of. She dropped backwards like a stone, all of her miscellaneous levitating things falling along with her. She fell maybe 6 feet and I heard the crack as her shoulder hit the ground. Alabaster froze in his rush to get to us. His head turned back to stare at the girl, then looked at us, then back to Rune. With a snarl, he ran back towards his teammate.

I turned back to the other two just in time to see Clockblocker reach for Oni Lee as the demon bastard popped into being near our car. The thug had abandoned the bat and switched to a knife apparently. And he was going for me.

Hive was still too far out to help and none of my clusters were close. Screaming, I pulled my rage back from Hive and leaped forwards towards the teleporter. I was too close to bring the gun to bear in time with the angles we were at. I trusted my suit, I'd built it myself. It could withstand a knife…I hoped. All I had to do was knock Oni Lee out before he could teleport again and I'd be fine. We'd even be able to capture him then. I could still turn this around. I could still make this night a win.

My bugs didn't have to die for nothing.

I got my hands around his head and my feet around his waist and we started to fall back as I felt the knife press against my ribs. It pushed hard into my costume and I felt a small prick on my stomach, but the fabric held. As we fell onto the street, Oni Lee collapsed into dust and I screamed again. Bastard must have started his teleport before I could jump him!

Hive made it to my side just as Oni Lee reappeared behind me thrusting with the knife, this time towards my back. I tried to twist and grab him, but Hive beat me to it. It jerked its arm forward, the last bladebug surging to the forefront and leaving a scrape down Oni Lee's arm. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough to shift his aim and his knife dug into my neck near a seam in the suit between my hood and the chest portion. Thankfully, the silk was still bunched up so it didn't penetrate far, but the burning pain I felt as it slid through the bundle of silk was more than enough for me to cry out in pain. I felt a warm trickle of blood as he jerked his arm back and I rolled to the side trying to avoid a further attack. Hive lunged again and Kid Win shot at the villain while Clockblocker attempted to leap over me to lock him in status.

None of them made contact since the man dissolved into ash _again_. This time when he reappeared he was almost half a street away and near another cluster of insects. He nodded to us and held up the bloody knife. Speaking again to the insect cluster, Oni Lee gestured to the knife. "The matter is settled. Leave our territory alone or we will not be so kind next time." He vanished and reappeared on a roof across the street, and moments later the ABB cape was gone entirely.

"Oh I am going to kill that piece of shit the next time I see him," Hive snarled, its few remaining insects chittering in agitation. "I have next to nothing left making me up! Fucking bastard!"

"Rune and Alabaster are gone," Kid Win sighed, standing to look over our beat-up shelter. "Well, at least we're not hurt."

"Speak for yourself," Clockblocker commented. He focused in on me and the hand I had pressed to the back of my neck. "Are you okay?"

"Darwin will fix me up when I get back to my lair. I'm probably going to get yelled at for getting hurt as it as. At least now I know a weakness in my costume I need to fix." I shunted my anger back towards Hive to keep it bled off. The thing was already angry, a little more couldn't hurt.

Kid Win looked at me and frowned. "Is Darwin a new cape?"

"No. Panacea rebranded," I said, grimacing as I started to shake my head and a fresh wave of pain lanced down my back from the neck wound.

Clockblocker nodded and held a hand to his ear again. "Console, where do we stand on Kaiser and the Protectorate? Do we need to evac or can we go to assist? Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeeeaaaah. Look, we're fine. I said…Roger." He dropped his hand and kicked the door of the car then yelped in pain as Kid Win, Hive, and I all snickered.

"We need to get back to base. You sure you don't need medical attention before you get back to Panac-err, sorry, Darwin. That's going to take some getting used to. Why is she rebranding?"

"She's distancing herself from New Wave. Helps them, helps her, helps our team."

"Right. Yeah. I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Thanks for the help with the shooting, Queen. Next time you guys decide to crash our party though, we'd appreciate it if you leave your guests behind." He turned to his partner and Kid Win ran to the side of the street to grab what looked like a high-tech skateboard. It apparently was a skateboard that flew…lucky kid. They both waved to Hive and me and took off down the road.

Hive looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "What's the plan now, oh great arthropod mistress?"

Groaning, I glared at the bug construct. "Don't start. Let's get home. I can't deal with Kaiser as I am now. I need to rebuild the reserves we just lost before I can risk either of us in another fight."

"And your neck hurts."

"And my neck _hurts_."

Stupid swarm and its stupid logic. As we started the jog home, I idly wondered if Amy could make a teleporting bug. Now wouldn't _that_ surprise Oni Lee the next time he tried to hurt Hive and me?

* * *

"Ohmygodhestabbedyou!Hestabbedyoutwice!Areyouokay?!Howareyoustillwalking?!"

Hive had dismissed itself, dissolving into a mass of bugs and reforming elsewhere while we were still a few blocks away from the lair, and I had barely stepped inside when I was practically assaulted by Madison. How she managed to say all of that in a single breath I had no idea. I also didn't know how I was supposed to respond to my former bully attempting to manhandle my hood off and get antiseptic cream onto the knife wound on my neck at the same time…

God this was uncomfortable. I could barely bring myself to trust Amy and that was mostly because she was adorable, vulnerable, and had the same issues with having a supervillain as a father. Madison was almost the exact opposite. This girl was…the way she was reacting to me, I was half convinced my minion would go out and shoot someone if I asked her politely. This was sooo not cool.

"Madison stop! Ow! You're making it worse, stop!" I pushed her back and held a hand over my wound. Looking over the petite girl's shoulder I caught sight of Amy hovering just behind her on the stairs. Shoving past Madison I moved towards my other friend. "Before you tell me off, it's not that bad."

"Really? Because it looks like a man who should have a Kill Order on his head stabbed you in the neck. After you ran right at him and let him stab you in the gut." Amy deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at me.

I grimaced and nodded as she touched my now gloveless, thanks to Madison, hand. "The suit can take a stabbing without any problem. I thought running at him would be smarter than letting him teleport away again and he _right there_. You can't really blame me for getting the neck wound. That's not my fault." I sighed in relief as Amy stitched up my injury.

Behind me, Madison ran her fingers across the now smooth skin sending a - not entirely unpleasant - shiver down my spine. "Wow…That's much better than antibacterial cream and stitches."

"Wonders of powers," Amy muttered. "Taylor, we should adjust your costume. The neck is a weakness. If you incorporate the hood into the rest of the suit it'll be much safer."

"Agreed," I said with a sigh as the three of us moved into the office. They sat back down on the couch while I started pulling off the rest of my costume. While I didn't have much more on than short shorts and a sports bra, I couldn't be bothered to care enough. I was too tired. "I should do the same with the gloves even though I was really trying to avoid going for a full bodysuit. It is much safer. However…hmm, maybe if I double layer it instead? That might actually work better. Then I'd just have to add a few more inches to the overlap sections. Extra protection on the joints and it would still be easy to take off fast if I need to. I could even add elastic hooks on the sleeve's wrist parts to let me connect a knuckle duster or something then layer the gloves over that maybe. I had basically nothing to protect myself in that fight besides my fists. Hmm, this might work…"

Amy grunted and shoved a bag of snacks into my hand. "Eat, you need the calories. And stop nerding out over your costume."

"Um, how's Hive doing? It didn't come back with you." Madison asked frowning.

I shrugged. "It was still mouthy as we walked back here though it wasn't as talkative as it has been. I think because it didn't have as many bugs. Or because we got our asses kicked." I leaned back and let me head slam into the back of the sofa. "God I lost _so many_ bugs! It's going to take me forever to build that back up. Even if I just breed them, I still have to go around and collect the new ones into the swarm after they hatch. Ugh, this sucks! Fucking grenades!"

Amy leaned over and laid a hand on my arm. "It's okay, I can help. I'll supercharge some of the mating cycles. We can rebuild your swarm. Maybe I can figure out a way to make something that would be harder for Oni Lee to take out too."

"Can you make me something that teleports?"

Madison perked up and gaped at us. "You can _do that_?"

Amy stared at Madison and slowly shook her head. "No. No, I cannot. You," she pointed at me and glared, "don't give the girl ideas! She's excitable enough already. You have no idea what I had to deal with while you were running around out there."

"What did I do? Mission Control was fun! All I was asking for was some snacks and for your help in linking some of the monitors. I can't be expected to keep an eye on everything if I don't have a good setup," Madison grumbled. "It's not like I have powers like you two."

I groaned and wiped a hand down my face. "Madison, you don't _have_ to do anything. You can come over when we're not doing cape stuff, you know?"

"Yeah, but I want to help if I can." She shrugged. "It's my fault you're in this mess, so I'm going to do what I can, even if I'm not a Tinker or a Thinker or anything else."

I glanced at Amy for help though my brunette partner in crime prevention gave zero assistance, she just shrugged. Grumbling to myself I pulled off the last bit of my costume and threw it into the corner where I had several manager spiders set to work on grabbing a mini-cluster of their kin to spin webs for raw silk. Once the cluster was set, I directly controlled a few more spiders to take the actual silk and repair the bits that needed fixing on the suit as well as make the modifications to the gloves and hood.

"What was the word on Kaiser by the way?"

Madison flipped her chair around and tapped at the computer. "Looks like he was mostly just moving out to distract the heroes and keep them from reinforcing the Wards. Once Rune and Alabaster got away, he and the valkyries retreated pretty quickly."

"Well that's good at least," I said. "Anything else of note?"

She shook her head. "Nothing that pops out as something we need to worry about immediately. Um, there's some chatter on PHO about some Empire thugs being stung and roughed up by some 'giant wasps and attack beetles' a few blocks from your fight. Probably just you keeping them from joining in with the cape battle, right?"

I frowned and thought back. "I don't remember siccing anything on regular gang members during the fight, but it was a little chaotic and I was very pissed at basically everything going on then, even with most of my emotions shunted to Hive…Maybe? I mean, it makes sense. I always have some patrols going and most are on autopilot set to warn me if it's worth focusing on their reports. I can concentrate on multiple things, but I was using a lot of headspace to be able to shoot Rune so the swarm might have just reacted based on my original orders to contain threats."

Amy frowned. "Your powers are weird. How does your swarm just act without conscious thought like that?"

I shrugged, "I can only directly control so many bugs at once, but the ones I do control can…sort of delegate orders to other nearby bugs, but only ones that have been close enough to me to have been 'tagged'. Once I tag a bug, so long as they are within my range, I can reach out to them whenever I want. So I can either do something pinpoint with a lot of little micromanagement commands for a smallish group, like those spiders weaving my suit back together over there, or delegate out large scale group commands that are simple and interpreted by the bug's own limited brains like with the ones working on the webs in the corner. If I try to control too many directly then I get major headaches, took me ages to figure that out…"

Madison nodded. "Okay, well that's weird, but there's a cape made a living metal so I'm not going to judge. You probably do need a Thinker rating though judging from the headaches. Oh! You can make like, _kidnapper _bugs!"

Amy and I just stared at her. Finally I rubbed my temples and groaned. "Madison, please explain what you mean, because that sounds horrible phrased like that."

"I am not aiding and abetting kidnapping," Amy commented glaring at Madison.

Her face heated up and she bit her finger, nodding quickly. "Sorry, sorry, yeah that does sound bad. I mean, you could set a group to go out and grab bugs that haven't been tagged. They could bring you more bugs quicker that way, your tagged range is huge but you have to be really close to actually _tag _new ones, right? So just set a few of your semi-autonomous clusters to get anything not controlled and bring them close enough to get into your swarm."

Frowning I rolled that idea around in my head. Reaching out to a roach cluster about two blocks away, I sent a test order to the little guys to see if they could distinguish between bugs in my swarm and non-tagged bugs. "Huh…well would you look at that. My bugs _can_ figure out which ones are mine and which aren't. That's both cool and mildly creepy." Bringing my eyes back up to Madison I flashed her a smile as I made a few more clusters around the area to gather up the bugs that weren't in my swarm and bring them to me. It would be slow but this was something that could keep going all the time to constantly replenish my numbers even when I didn't have time to go for a run around the block. Cool.

Amy shook her head at the two of us. "Allow me to reiterate what I said before. I am not aiding and abetting kidnapping. Even of insects. What the hell has my life become that I have to add that modifier…"

"Welcome to the Independent scene!" I snarked back throwing my arms wide. "So, back to what we were on before, Madison, anything I need to worry about besides rogue clusters that I apparently need to watch better while fighting?"

"So yeah, nothing else on the radar that I can see. I could hit up All Seeing Eye? She's a bit better niffling out information than me and she could probably shift through some of this raw data faster than me. I don't have to tell her why I'm interested. I generally just ask for help with passwords and stuff, but I've sent her weird data in the past so it's nothing unusual."

Frowning I leaned forward. "All Seeing Eye? That sounds like…Oh. Well, that explains how she knows you." I sighed and leaned back. "Madison, your friend is Tattletale. You're getting help with your hacking from Tattletale."

Madison swiveled her chair and gaped at me. She looked to Amy who just shrugged helplessly. Finally looking back at me again Madison seemed to regain her capacity for speech. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

"We talked to her a few days back. She was rather surprised that _I_ knew you since _she_ knew you too."

"I'm going to have to go over everything she sent me now…" Madison mumbled turning back to her computer.

"She sounded like she was genuinely just trying to help you out from what little we talked about concerning you. Be careful, but I don't think you need to be paranoid. Just because we're capes doesn't mean we can't have friends outside our costumes," I said shaking my head. "Tattletale isn't a bad person, she's in a bad situation. I've overheard enough conversations between her and my father that I know where she's coming from and what she's involved in. Dad threatens her almost every time he talks to her and considering how she's jumping at the chance to work with us and get away from him, I'm betting she takes those threats very seriously. If she's talking to you and you don't have powers, she's probably using it as an escape."

"Speaking of family and friends," Amy said raising a hand. "Not that my family is secretly murderous and all, but on a lighter note, my cousin was interested in talking to you Taylor…in civilian clothes if possible. She messaged me yesterday asking if we could all sit down to talk. I, well I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with that so I haven't responded to her yet."

I grimaced and looked to Madison. My minion was no help as she steadfastly refused to turn around, just continued typing away at her computer. "Traitor," I muttered. Madison tapped her foot on the floor and typed faster. "Do I have to?"

Amy looked at me and if I didn't know better, I'd have sworn she had a Master power with how she made her eyes look like little beaten puppies. "It would mean a lot. Crystal has always been nice to me…"

"Ugh, fine, okay Amy. I'll go. Might as well tell the Pelhams who I am. Seems like the only people in this city who aren't going to know my identity are the damn Gangs, and who knows how long that'll last. I bet my father would sell them that info if he thought it could benefit his plan for this city or drive me into his clutches."

Amy frowned. "That would break so many of the unwritten rules…He'd mark himself for sure."

"Not if he uses a mercenary or an 'informant', and kills them afterwards so it can't be traced back to him. He's done it before. Didn't you ever wonder why Circus started operating in Boston? She pissed him off when he couldn't buy her services, so he tipped off the Empire as to her name using a 'homeless guy' who 'saw her take off her costume'. I gave up on my dad ever being the same person I remember as a kid after hearing that conversation," I said, scowling and pushing away the hand that Amy tried to lay on my arm. "So yes, he'd do it if I annoy him too much or if he thinks it will get me to run to him out of desperation. I need more bugs to protect myself. I need…"

"More people, you need more than just me and Madison," Amy said softly. I pulled a soda from the fridge and caught my minion nodding though she still didn't actually talk. "I think I can make you a tranq wasp in the meantime. It might help if Oni Lee pops up again. But we need more people for this team, Taylor. I might be able to fight if I weaponize my skills, but that might be even more dangerous in the long run. Once I start being useful to you besides bugs, you have a huge target on your back. I also haven't really used this version of my skills enough to trust myself in a battle yet. Things could escalate fast if I do the wrong modification in the heat of the moment. You need people other than me."

"Yeah. I know." I fell back onto the couch and took a long swallow of my drink, trying to figure out how to say what I needed to as the liquid washed away some of the lingering bad taste from the fight. "I don't…I don't like working with people, Amy. Not anymore. Once upon a time, yeah I'd jump at it. But now, after what Emma did to me, after the school abandoned me, after finding out about my dad, it's _really_ hard to trust people. I don't even have the benefit of divorcing Taylor from Queen anymore for most of the people that I would be willing to approach."

Amy stayed silent for long enough that I was worried I had said too much. Just as I was trying to find a way to laugh off what I had said, she started to talk. "Why do you trust me, Taylor? We've only been friends for about three weeks now and we've been working together a lot less than that."

"Your dad is like mine," I said looking into my drink. "That was enough to get you in the door. After that…how the hell was I supposed to _not_ support you after what happened with your sister and you walking away from your family? You helped me when you didn't need to beforehand and then you needed help yourself. I can get over my issues and trust you, Amy. Just don't abuse it okay?" It helped that she was really pretty too. Not that I was going to say _that_ out loud.

"…Okay."

"What about you, Madison? Any comments or questions, since we are having a friggin' heart to heart anyway?" I asked raising my head and looking to my minion.

Madison paused in her typing. "I'm going too far with you aren't I? I'm freaking you out, but it means you know how to deal with me all the same, right?" she said, steadfastly refusing to turn around and meet my gaze.

Frowning I nodded. "Yeah, actually, that's pretty much it. How did you…?"

"I told you, I'm good with computers, that doesn't mean I'm a total shut-in. At least, I didn't _use_ to be one. Either way, I'm not good with psychos - no one is. I misjudged Sophia, I misjudged Emma. Emma is insane. Sophia is worse, because she's _not_ insane, she's just absolutely terrifying. You're perfectly rational, and in your place I'd be thinking the same thing. I know I'm going too far, but I…you're still letting me in, so I don't really want to stop." She finally paused with her fingers resting over the keyboard and lowered her head. "Is that…is that okay? I hurt you. I want to make it up to you. Right now, you're letting me. You might not if I force myself to act more normal. Is it okay if I stay like this? I…I don't want to be alone again, Taylor and I don't want you and Amy to be alone either."

I let myself sink back into the couch and closed my eyes ignoring a dim ringing from the Amy's side of the couch. "All three of us are way too messed up for this. We need someone less fucked up in this group just so that we don't implode." We needed someone else just to make sure we didn't become the New Slaughterhouse Three at the rate we were going.

"Well, you could always ask Lisa," Amy said holding up her phone. "Apparently she has that info on my parents we asked about. Would this be enough proof that she's willing to work against your dad?"

"She'd have to leave her own team," I commented cracking an eye and looking at Amy's phone. "When did she get your number?"

"I have no idea. I don't really want to ask. So, are we going to call her?"

"Thoughts minion?"

Madison turned her chair and gave me a thumbs up. "I don't know who 'Lisa' is, but if she's willing to help, and is proving her worth with little missions, then I say yes. Besides, what harm can a phone call do?"

I laughed, shaking my head as I pointed to the small army of bugs I had in the corner of the room working on my costume. "Madison, word to the wise, never assume I'm not listening to your phone conversation if you're in my range. While I'm _probably_ not, because dear lord that would be a lot of micromanagement and a _boatload_ of headaches, I _could_. Phone calls can do a lot of damage when I'm around."

"Oh." Madison blinked, then shrugged. "Well, we should still talk to her."

I smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, yes we should. Amy, after you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: ‘Escape Plans’ by 0zero_metallix0 on Ao3. This is a sorta Taylor/Lisa/Amy/Victoria oneshot. Lisa has a semi-escape plan for if she can get away from Coil, that being Amy and Victoria. She takes Taylor to meet the two in case something happens to her and they all start drinking with everybody winding up in bed with each other. Rather amusing and an intriguing concept overall. The naughty bit mostly offscreen and it’s pretty short. Highly recommended if you want a fun, tiny fic that doesn’t get too dark and has a bit of fun with the universe while still being somewhat serious.


	9. Interlude 2.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Just a quick (hopefully unnecessary reminder) that the views expressed by the Empire are not mine. Also, I’m not exactly schooled in racial slurs so if I seriously messed it up, please let me know and I’ll fix it.

**Interlude 2.x**

Crystal Pelham sat down in the little booth at Fugly Bobs and tried not fidget. Her cousin was supposed to be here in a minute along with the cape - the girl, the friend - who had…taken her in? Rescued her? Stolen her? Provided shelter? Given her a shoulder to cry on?

Pimped her out?

Crystal growled and clenched her hand. No. She wouldn't think that way. Especially not even before meeting the poor girl. Amy had left because their family had failed her. If she wanted to shack up with some random girl she'd just met that was her own business and Crystal would do her damndest to support her for it!

She hoped.

The bell on the door tinkled and and most of the dark thoughts fled as Amy's mousy brown hair bobbed into view. The tall, thin girl behind her seemed to be doing her level best to avoid meeting anyone's eyes while still looking at everyone. Her shoulders noticeably loosened after a moment, setting a soft frown on Crystal's face. What had she seen? Or better question, _not_ seen?

Amy on the other hand, smiled and waved as she pushed through the small crowd and led her friend to the booth, sitting down across from Crystal. "Hi! It's been awhile."

"Yeah, you missed school," Crystal replied reaching over and clasping her cousin's hands. "I was worried."

"I'm fine Crystal. I just needed a bit of time to process everything. I actually called in, told them I needed a leave of absence; they sent me the work I'm missing so I'm still caught up. I'll probably go back in another week or so."

"Oh. Aunt Carol didn't mention that."

Amy's face darkened and she pulled her hands back. "Carol would know if she bothered to check with Arcadia." Amy huffed then waved at the girl sitting beside her. "This is Taylor. Taylor this is my cousin, Crystal."

The dark haired girl lifted a hand and gave her a small smile. "Hello. It's nice to meet you."

Crystal nodded back. "Likewise. So she's been staying with you then?"

The girl hesitated a moment before sighing and replying, "Yeah. She's been staying with me."

"Why is that a difficult admiss-oh." Crystal broke off as the full implications of what she'd asked Amy to do drove into her brain. She felt the blood drain from her face and shut her eyes in defeat. "Dammit. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I didn't even think…none of us have to worry about that…I'm sorry." That was weak even to her ears. God she'd just unmasked a girl who had done nothing but help her cousin, and now she was just trying to pass if off as a mistake?!

"It's fine. Apparently the PRT already knows and the one person in the city I really didn't want to know also knows. So what's one more set of people knowing my name?" She laughed though there wasn't much humour in it. "How's your family doing Crystal? We haven't seen much of New Wave in the news over the past week."

"It's been hard lately. Vicky isn't even in the city anymore. Mom called in favors and she's getting some counseling at Jessica Yamada's home office. Uncle Mark is there too. Mom keeps trying to convince Aunt Carol to go also. With the way she's been ranting at Mom…I'm worried about her. Amy what did you say to her when you left?" Crystal asked looking up and holding her hands out, palms up. "I'm not accusing you of anything, I just, she started down the rabbit hole after you showed up on our door and it's like she can't climb back out now."

Amy scowled and shook her head. "I only told her the truth. That Carol never even tried to care for me and she would've been better off either giving me to someone else or just killing me like she obviously wanted to do from the start."

Crystal and Taylor both gasped at that. Crystal started to say something though Taylor beat her to it. "Amy! You said things were bad, you didn't say they were _that_ bad at home!"

"So maybe I exaggerated a little bit during my rant. We were both angry and yelling and I wanted her to hurt like she hurt me. I'm not sorry for what I said."

Taylor groaned and laid her head on the table though Crystal still heard her mutter, "Really need that extra person right fucking now. I can't deal with all this shit."

"Amy," Crystal said softly reaching over the table to try and grasp her cousin's hand again though she still evaded her. "Maybe you should, you know, talk to someone? This can't all be Aunt Carol."

"And just who am I supposed to talk to Crystal?" Amy asked, glaring at her. "I'm _Panacea_," she said mockingly, "I don't get to take breaks. I don't get to stop. I don't get just be a teenager. I don't get to do _any_ of that because all I'm supposed to do is _heal all fucking day, every day_! I'm done. They don't care about me. Maybe one person in a hundred ever actually said 'thank you'. People looked at me like it was my fucking _duty_! Like how _dare_ I stop for one moment! What's going to happen if _Panacea_ gets her head looked at by a shrink, Crystal? Huh? I'll be lynched in the streets! No thanks. I'm fine where I am."

"You're really not, Amy," Taylor murmured. "No cape stuff tonight. No cape stuff for the next few nights. Lisa's coming over, we'll deal with her stuff and then we'll watch a movie and I'll figure out how to get a therapist for 'Darwin' in a week or two."

Amy glared down at Taylor who still had her head on the table. "You need my consent for that."

Taylor raised her head and turned to poke at Amy's side. "I'm not a doctor, I'm your friend. And you're crashing in my lair, so no, I really don't need your consent. I can't help you with this Amy, I'm not a therapist, and you can't tell me you don't need one. Look, if it makes you feel better, I promise that I'll come with you every time. Hell, we'll grab Madison and drag her along with us too. God knows all three of us need it…"

Amy scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ugh, you aren't going to let this go are you?"

"No," Taylor said shaking her head. "You know that we need to. What happens if you break under the pressure Amy? You're making things now and you were talking about maybe trying to get into actual combat soon. If you go crazy they'll Birdcage you, or worse, and I can't…You're my friend. I don't have many. I can't do this without you."

Amy looked to the side, not meeting Taylor's gaze, Crystal's presence seemingly entirely forgotten. "Fuck, can we just deal with this later?"

"Do you promise that we'll actually deal with it?"

"Fine whatever," Amy mumbled.

"A therapist sounds like a good idea Amy," Crystal tried to interject. Her voice was soft, yet the way both the other girls turned to look at her it seemed more like she had shot off a cannon in the middle of the burger shop. It was all she could do to avoid cringing at their stares.

"Just fucking drop it," Amy sighed shaking her head.

Crystal held up her hands. "Okay, okay…" She looked around awkwardly and tried a different tact. "Is Madison another friend?"

Taylor nodded. "More or less. Look, can we order? I need food. I haven't eaten in like, forever. You can grill me more after we've eaten."

Crystal laughed. "Yeah, sure. I'm hungry too. Come on, my treat."

"You both are evil," Amy grumbled picking up her menu as well.

Maybe things weren't perfect, but at least they weren't as bad as Crystal had feared.

* * *

Peter Martin wasn't the smartest man, nor was he the richest man. However he was good at what he did and what he did was fun. He got to beat people up for a living and, every once in a while, Hookwolf would give him a dog to train for the ring. It may not have been the glamorous life of a cape, but he could certainly do worse in a fucked up city like Brockton Bay.

The Empire treated him well, so he gave back everything he could. If he got to mess up a few chinks and niggers and heebs even better. He just had to be a bit careful how far he took things these days. Blood and broken bones were fine. Death was fine as long as the body disappeared. The only people who could leave bodies behind willy nilly were the capes. Sometimes he wished he had powers, though, in general, being a ground level bouncer paid just as well.

Except for nights like tonight. For nights like tonight it was better to just stay at home with his girl and let someone else answer the damn phone. But no, he had to pick up the fucking phone. And now Alabaster was on his ass grilling him about where his people were and Peter had no good answer.

It wasn't _his_ fault that the idiots missed check-in. How hard could it be to collect protection money from a few stupid bars anyway? He'd never had any issues with the job!

It was hard for these fools apparently. At least that was what Peter was guessing as he walked through the alleyway used as a shortcut between the second and third shop on the guys' route. The first and second shop had been fine. They'd been and gone, money collected, no issues. The third was a bust. Gus and Marcus had never shown up. Peter, at least, had gotten the money, but now he had to try and backtrack and find where the little bastards had disappeared to.

He was halfway through the alley when the noise started; a soft buzzing just on the edge of his hearing. The type that a mosquito makes when it's close to your ear, but not actually about to bite you because it's a scared little shit. Swatting around his head, Peter kept walking. "Fucking bugs man. Gus! Get your scrawny ass out here or I swear, I'm going to stick you in the ring against Hook's dogs next time!"

The only response was an increased buzzing. Peter frowned and slowed. "Alley shouldn't be this dark…Gus! Marcus! This shit ain't funny!" The buzzing grew louder. "If you two are dead already and making me walk into a swarm of flies, I'm going to beat your corpses just for the hell of it," Peter muttered. He grabbed for a flashlight and flipped it on as he stepped forward again. The light didn't seem to illuminate much of anything. The alley was still dark and ahead of him and the buzzing just got stronger with no source for the stupid invisible flies in sight.

He was almost to the center of the alley when the light finally caught on something. It was white and shimmered a bit under the flashlight's beam and it covered a little over five feet of the wall from the ground up, though it wasn't very wide. Frowning, Peter stepped closer. Reaching out to touch it, the thing felt sticky and smooth under his rough fingers. "What the hell is this shit?" Suddenly, the white thing moved under his fingers, jerking towards him about an inch before falling back against the wall. Peter danced back to the other edge of the alley breathing hard and keeping the beam trained on the shifting white thing. Part of it pushed forward, then fell back into the wall again as he narrowed his eyes. "That almost looks like a goddamn hand…"

A moan just to his side had Peter lunging to the ground and whipping his piece out. It was only his training with the gun that kept him from shooting the second white thing stuck to the wall only a few inches from where he'd been standing. "What the shit!?" Peter screamed as the top of this one bulged forward. He got the distinct impression of a head from the rounded shape of that bulge.

Without warning, the buzzing increased all around him. The flashlight had fallen off to the side as he hit the ground. Taking a shaky breath, he kept his gun trained on the wall, as his other hand reached for the lost light. The buzzing hit a feverish pitch as his fingers closed on the handle. Angling, it up towards the open air of the alley, Peter felt all of the breath in his lungs escape him in a single, horrified squeak.

What should have been fire escapes and brick walls was instead a seething mass of black and brown bodies. They undulated back and forth over each other in a dense ball centered right over him. He couldn't see what the things were, they moved too fast. They _should _be bugs. They _should_ be butterflies and moths and wasps and beetles. But…they _weren't_! There was something _wrong_ with their bodies and the way they moved. They were too fast and too big and bugs didn't move together as a _group_ like that! There were too many legs and too many eyes and too many wings. Too many stingers and that _sound_! That buzzing, that horrible, infernal buzzing…The moan from the white thing - from the cocoon - came again.

Peter knew what had happened to Gus and Marcus now. And he desperately wished he didn't.

Remembering perhaps the one time he'd ever turned on the Discovery channel, he knew that moths, at least, were attracted to light. Maybe this…maybe this thing would be too. Taking a deep breath, Peter tossed the light down the alley. As the flashlight flew end over end, he saw a portion of the mass split off and surge after it.

That was good enough. Pushing to his feet, Peter ran for the safety of the main street shouting for help all the way. He'd be fine. He only had to make it 150 feet. That was nothing!

He didn't make it five before the swarm descended on him.

* * *

Lisa rubbed at her head and popped another migraine pill. Not that it would help much, they never did. She mostly took it for the placebo effect at this point. Thinker headaches were just straight up evil.

"Oi! What's the big idea man? I was winning that round!" Alec yelled as Brian switched inputs on the TV. Their yelling did not help her head. At least it wasn't horrible yet, only mildly annoying. She was fairly used to dealing with mildly annoying at this point. And her uptime had been getting better too. Maybe one day she'd be able to push it far enough in order to allow her to make a real difference.

Yeah, and pigs might fly too.

"The news is important too Alec. Your game can wait for a few minutes. I need to see if anything came up around where Aisha and I are staying."

"Ask our living encyclopedia or get the computer," Alec complained.

"Both of you shut up," Rachel rumbled from her spot near Brutus and Judas. "You're annoying, and pissing off my dogs."

"No you shut up."

She wasn't going to miss this group. Not much at least. Maybe a little. But not much. They had grown on her, but she wasn't an idiot. Alec would turn on her in a heartbeat if there was enough money or amusement in it. Well…maybe not a heartbeat. He wasn't a true sociopath even if he thought he was one. Rachel though, would probably laugh as Coil killed her. Lisa couldn't blame the butch girl too much, she had taken an inordinate amount of pleasure in pushing Rachel's buttons. Brian…at least Brian would feel bad about betraying her. He'd still do it if it was between Lisa and his sister, but he'd feel bad later.

She snorted to herself and packed her computer away into the bag. "Little comfort those bad feelings are when I've got a fucking bullet in the brain. Asshole."

"Hey, Lisa? You hear about these Empire thugs that are missing? Anything we need to worry about?"

_Not Protectorate, would be arrested not missing. Not New Wave, same issue. Not - _Lisa clamped down on her power and held her place for a moment as she let the spike of pain subside. Damn it. She really needed to lay down for a few hours. This was a horrible time to meet with Taylor and Amelia. Or maybe it was a great time. The less her power intruded on this meeting the better. She really needed this to go well and for that she needed to be genuine and not a bitch. The more she used her ability the harder that was for her to avoid.

"Sorry, Brian, I'm tapped out at the moment. Working on something for the boss and it's taking a lot of my power to deal with the variables."

Brian grunted as he turned back to the TV. "Ouch. Don't overwork yourself. We have that prison-break thing coming up in a few days. You're going to need to be in top form for that, Lisa."

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him. "What do you think I'm working overtime on? Gotta make sure things go right. This isn't a small job and we're going to be on the radar in a big way afterwards. You sure you want this heat?" She could still give him a final out. Alec was a lost cause and Rachel would go to whoever helped with her dogs and damn the consequences. Brian though, he could be a good guy if she maneuvered him right.

"Pays well and I'm making more now than I'd ever make going the hero route. If we're going to be villains we might as well hit harder targets. No one is going to die and supposedly this girl deserves to be free anyway. Hell Madcap made a business out of this. Don't see why we can't too if the boss is going to be paying us so much extra for it," he said shrugging.

Aaaaanddd there went his chance. Oh well, she'd tried. "Right, well, don't say I didn't warn ya! Ta folks!"

Alec perked up and cocked his head at her. "Thought you said your head hurt?"

_Suspicious. Knows I'm up to something. Doesn't particularly care what, but wants in if I'm making more on the side. Thinks I might be _\- Lisa shook her head as she got control of her power and flashed him one of her trademark grins. "I did. Doesn't mean I can't go out for a meeting and a date. A supervillain's work is never done!"

Alec laughed and threw a pillow at her. "You don't date girl, otherwise I'd have already had you. Don't skimp out on us, bring us the details on whatever side project you got going on when you get back, yeah?"

"I _could_ date if I found someone who didn't set my power off every time I tried to kiss them," Lisa replied throwing the pillow back at him. "_You_ would probably have me puking in disgust within five seconds if we did more than hold hands, pervert."

"I prefer hedonist."

"Whatever you say."

"If you'll all going to keep fucking talking, I'm going on a fucking walk," Rachel said getting up and grabbing for the leashes on the wall. "Can't get a moment of peace in this place."

"Lisa, do you need the car keys?" Brian asked.

"Nah, I'm good. See you guys around." She waved to them and followed Rachel out the door of the warehouse. As it shut behind her she leaned against it taking a deep breath and clutching her bag to her chest. Unless she very much missed the mark, this was probably going to be the last time she ever saw this place or the team in such a relaxed way again.

Fuck. Fuck Coil. Fuck him six ways to Sunday and then have an Endbringer fuck the bastard all over again on the seventh day. Bastard. She wasn't supposed to care.

_Lonely. Tired of running. Tired of fighting a losing battle. Hoped for real friends who cared. Hoped for _\- Growling, Lisa bit her finger hard enough to draw blood and pushed her power down. She did not need to psychoanalyze herself, thank you very much. Stupid damn power.

Walking away from the warehouse, she slung her back over her shoulders and set out for the nemesis' daughter's new digs. This was such a weird situation, how the hell had this even happened? How was she crawling to Taylor fucking Hebert like a beaten puppy for help? Help getting away from Danny fucking Hebert?

_Lonely. Tired of run_ \- "Shut up, shut up, shut up! I hate you!" Lisa cringed as she realized that she'd yelled that out loud though a quick glance around set her back at ease that at least nobody had seen her. Fucking powers. Was it too much to ask for one damn day of silence? Being the smartest person in the room? Awesome. Never having a moment of peace? Absolute hell.

She pulled out her phone as she crossed the unspoken barrier between the 'rundown' and 'presentable' parts of town. Tapping away for a few seconds she forced a smile as it only rang twice before being picked up. "Howdy, Queenie. How's my favorite girls hanging?"

A groan echoed in her ear for a moment. "Must you do that every time?"

"Not _every_ time. Then you'd figure me out too easily. I'm about two minutes out. We still on or do I turn around and head home?"

Taylor paused for a moment. Almost long enough that Lisa actually started to worry. "Do…do you _want_ to head home?"

Lisa sighed and dropped the facade with a heavy grimace that, thankfully, Taylor couldn't see. "Would I really be coming to you right now if I wanted to head back, Taylor? I'm not asking for me I'm asking for you. I have a pretty good idea of where things are going to go tonight and I'm prepared. Are you?"

"…Code for the door lock is 042042."

The line went dead and Lisa found herself with a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like months. "Nice code girl. Excellent taste."

True to her word, Lisa arrived at the little factory that Taylor's group had claimed and waltzed up the stairs to the office. She smirked how they'd kept the bed she'd sent them. That had been a priceless opportunity there.

_Used by two. Doesn't smell yet. One is interested. Other is curious but _\- Lisa winced and rubbed at her temples. "Ugh. Mind if I sit down, girls? Backpack is heavy and I need snacks. Skipped dinner finishing up some stuff."

"Take any seat you want, Lisa," Taylor said waving her arm to encompass the room. It was bigger than Lisa'd expected. The furniture all fit well enough with room left over for a beanbag chair, and even another bed if they were willing to squeeze in for it. Though she could just have a contractor come in and fix up the break room and make it more presentable too if they wanted even more space. That was probably the better idea. One room for work, another for relaxation. Maybe the supply office could be expanded into a spare bedroom…

"Hello. Um, are you really AllSeeingEye?" the petite girl in the swivel chair asked as she stood and walked over to the armchair that Lisa had claimed.

"Yes, SpecificProtagonist, that's me. Nice to see you in person and not through the computer screen. How's the new rig? Did you convince your dad to let you get the upgrade?" Lisa asked shaking the smaller girl's hand. A small smile was her answering response.

_Got scared when she found out your identity. Thought you might have used her. Not scared anymore._ Huh. Well that was nice.

"I did. The speed is amazing compared to last year's model. Taylor and Amy don't seem to notice the difference. I don't understand how they can't, it's _leagues_ better." Madison gushed.

"Because we have no idea what you are talking about when you start getting into the details, Madison," Amy commented rolling her eyes from her position next to Taylor.

_Close enough to touch shoulders but far enough that Taylor isn't crowded. Calculated. Taylor got spooked earlier. Pulling away but staying close enough to remind her she's near. She's the interested one. Taylor is curious/oblivious/interested/unsure/_ \- "Ow." Lisa groaned and held her hand to her head. "I really need to sleep soon. Fucking headaches."

"Are you okay?" Taylor asked leaning forward. "We can wait. The couch pulls out into another bed if you don't want to go back to your home, you can crash here for the night."

"No, I want to do this thing. Plus, I actually _want_ my power to be partially dead for this."

Taylor frowned at that and Lisa noticed a collection of spiders in the corner start dancing sideways as the taller girl eyed her. "Why would you want that?"

"My power makes me…difficult to work with sometimes. I'm sure you noticed I can be a bit…abrasive."

"I would go with 'bitchy', but sure, abrasive works," Amy chimed in.

_Staking a claim. Worried you have intentions. Worried you have better odds since Taylor seems to have a blind spot regarding you. _Blind spot? What? How the fuck would Taylor have a blind spot regarding her? They'd barely interacted at all before…oh. She could hear through bugs and Coil took his work home before he knew that. Taylor was the queen of eavesdropping. She'd been listening in on their conversations for months. Goddamn, this girl probably knew more about Lisa than most of the Undersiders did…Hell Lisa probably _would_ have a shot if she wanted to take it.

"Aww, and here I am with some nice juicy info about your parents. I could just take my laptop and go home you know," Lisa said forcing a smile in spite of the headache. Did she want to put in the effort to try to make a move? Was it worth it? She hadn't been lying when she'd told Alec that relationships were basically impossible unless her power was muted. She could even barely do anything herself anymore and that was just sad.

And very little muted her power anymore. Though, Taylor was hard to read when she shunted off her emotions…

Maybe one day it would be worth the effort. Probably not tonight though. She needed to be able to think better without pounding inside her skull.

"Please don't go. I'm sorry. I had a stressful morning and I'm still pissed off." Well at least Amy knew how to apologize so that was a plus.

_Stressful month. Stressful year. Stressful life. Breaking point close, can tip either way. Dangerous. Don't piss off. Dangerous._ Yeah, no shit power. A loose cannon Panacea _of course_ was going to be dangerous. Stupid useless power.

Lisa leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "No worries. I probably deserve the barb. So shall we get to business first, then pleasure?"

"It's like everything you say is a double entendre," Taylor griped.

"You should hear Regent talk. That boy is impossible to keep from cracking jokes in the worst setting." Lisa smiled a little at the memory. That part she would miss, a bit. His humor was horrible, but he was good for a laugh when things got rough. "Anyway, Amy, you were right: your dad is Marquis. No question about it. I have birth certificates, testimony from people near him, inquiries into local schools, you name I probably have it. Honestly it's a bit of a shame he was sent to the Birdcage. Guy may have a been a villain extraordinaire, but he seemed like a kickass dad." She dropped her voice to a mutter, "Certainly ran rings around my shit show of a father."

Amy nodded slowly and leaned to the side so that Taylor was the one supporting most of her weight.

_Too much, too obvious. Still in love with someone else, doesn't want to be. Focused on Taylor in an attempt to redirect feelings. Trying to ignore the betrayal inside that each touch is pulling to the forefront. Knows other person doesn't feel the same. Taylor is safe and friendly. Taylor is _\- Lisa let out a slow breath and clamped down hard on her power. Fuck, this headache was going to suck.

"That matches what my family was saying and the half-memories I sort of have. They're mostly just impressions of someone warm and a kind voice, but it fits. What about my mom?"

Lisa sighed and shook her head. "You're not going to like it. She died soon after you were born from what I could find. It was hard to find a name. She didn't leave one on the hospital paperwork, and what was left behind got cleaned up by Marquis. Only thing I could really find name wise was a last name, Lavere."

"How did…how did she die?" Amy asked so soft Lisa could barely hear her. "Was it a cape battle?"

"Nothing like that. She wasn't powered. Not that I found at least. Cancer. She was a groupie, hooked up with your dad and you were the result. When she found out she was pregnant and dying, she gave you to him, must have figured you'd have a better life."

"Yeah, that worked out well," Amy muttered.

Lisa shook her head and speared the freckled girl with a hard gaze. "Look, your life sucks. I get that. But don't knock on your mom because she made a hard choice. The Brockton Bay Brigade screwed you over when they took out your dad, but your dad also killed a lot of people so they weren't completely wrong. They took you in when they didn't have to. Carol Dallon has her own problems completely unrelated to you. I can figure out what they are if you want to try to eventually work things out with your adopted mother. But don't blame your bio mom for actually trying to do the right thing. My parents used and abused me every chance they had until I left. You had two and a half sets that did their best with what they had. If you really want to blame someone, blame Marquis for not giving up being a villain, but I'd say even that's a stretch. You got a raw deal, it sucks, learn to live with it."

Madison held up a hand. Lisa jerked a bit, she'd almost forgotten the little one was here. Damn she was good at disappearing into the background. "Why do you say two and half? That's kinda weird math."

"Not really," Taylor said. She reached over and squeezed Amy's hand while still looking at Madison. "Amy was mostly raised by Carol and Mark Dallon, but with the way that New Wave works they do so much stuff together that Sarah and Neil Pelham are almost like another set of parents. Right?"

"More or less what I meant yeah." Lisa nodded waving Taylor on. "So yeah, apologies for being blunt and all, but don't insult your parents. Taylor and I have reasons to despise our shit folks. Carol fucked up somewhere and you hate her, I get that. You have good reason. She also has good reason for fucking up so don't _you_ forget that."

"Lisa, back off," Taylor murmured, squeezing Amy's hand. "Remember how you said you could be difficult? This is being difficult."

She sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I know. My head hurts. I'm sorry, that's no excuse."

"So what _are_ you worried about then? Because you wouldn't be pushing this so hard if it wasn't to take your mind off of something else." Goddamn, applause for Madison. Her little perv had come so far.

Lisa forced her eyes back open and pulled out her computer and tapped a few keys calling up the right display. Turning it to the group, she shook her head. "This is Dinah Alcott. She's the reason the Undersiders were left out to dry at the bank. Taylor, your dad wanted us to be a diversion while he had mercs kidnap this girl."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So while this is intended to be a Taylor/Amy fic, I make no promises anymore to the eventual endstate of the shipping. I'm not planning that aspect of the fic anymore for if I plan it beyond my current outline, as I griped to Raven last night, it's going to up Skittles somehow lol. The story will go where it will go and people will end up with whoever fits right for their character at the end.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'Hive Daughter' by PlateGlassArmour. In this fic instead of connecting to a Shard, Taylor instead connects to one of the Tyrranid Hive Minds. She basically in turn constructs/becomes a new hive mind herself and I think she sorta joins the Wards before Piggot and Alexandria railroad her into a crossroads. Not that that does anything to slow her down by that point lol. Legend is an awesome guy, Amy has a minor role, and I don't think the Undersiders really come up though I did only skim the beginning portion so I may have missed that section. Either way, it's basically into the epilogues now and nearly done. It's very good if you're looking for a bit of a different fic.


	10. Turbulence 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! For those not following the thread on SB, I've decided I'm not certain of the ultimate pairing anymore. So it may end up as Amy/Taylor, Lisa/Taylor or something else entirely. I'm taking the pairing off the main page until it reaches that point in the story just to be safe and not get anyone's hopes up for anything specific. Everyone is still main characters, just the story is more important than any forced pairing.

**Turbulence 01**

I stayed nearly perfectly still as I stared at the laptop screen Lisa held in front of me. Calmly, barely even noticing what I was doing, I pulled my hand out of Amy's and looked closer at the picture of the little girl.

"How old is she?"

"Twelve," Lisa replied. "She's the mayor's niece and some sort of precog. I'm not sure what type, but she's _powerful_."

"You said the other day that you didn't know what the real motivation for the bank was?" I asked. It was good to have clarity in this sort of situation. I had made sure to bleed everything into the swarm that I possibly could. To avoid a mistake, I needed to be as empty as I could be.

It didn't seem to be helping much. All of my main patrols were wobbling in their routes, several of the soldier clusters were marching towards me while the spiders were beginning to spin webs throughout every alley. Hive had grabbed several of the spare clusters and formed a loose human shape a few blocks away, proceeding to beat the wall of an alley with its enhanced durability spider arms. The brick wasn't holding up very well under the assault. Amy must have improved them even further since our fight with Oni Lee.

Lisa has paled while I asked my question. "I had no idea. I swear. I'm cool with robbing people. I have no issues with that at all. Insurance is awesome and pays for everything these days. I'm not okay with kidnapping kids. You know my situation, Taylor. I might as well be a hostage myself for all that I can run around during the day."

"Wait, what?" Madison asked, frowning and looking at Lisa. "I hadn't heard that part."

"Not important right now Mads," Amy snapped off, focused fully on the conversation.

"You're certain it was my father? And that he still has her?" I asked Lisa.

"I am. I don't know where though. He's not very forthcoming with his main base."

"It doesn't matter. He's at home. It's late, he's sleeping," I said. My hands were folded in my lap and my voice was level. I didn't have many attack creatures near my old house. It hadn't seemed wise at the time without knowing his power. I was still trying to move things into position. The wasps were close enough to attack but I needed more to be certain. Venom overdose was a dicey thing, it had to be devastating. The few bladebugs I'd hatched to replace the losses were still three blocks away, but they were closing quickly. The black widows and brown recluses were almost in position too, however those moved slowly. My head was already hurting from directly grabbing so many bugs at once but this wasn't the time to trust things to clusters. I needed direct control. Hive moved to help; I pushed it back. This was my problem and my family. I was going to fix it myself.

"Taylor…how do you know your dad is sleeping at home?" Lisa asked, her voice soft and slow.

Amy's eyes widened and she looked between me and Lisa. "Her house is within her range," she whispered, a hand over her mouth.

"Oh motherfucker!" Lisa shouted surging to her feet, laptop falling to the ground. I just stayed where I was, with my hands clasped in between my legs. "I didn't know it was that big! Taylor stop! You can't, he'll see you coming and things will go bad. He always knows how conversations go and makes them go his way; he always comes out on top. He's some kind of precog, I'm sure of it! Stop or he's going to hurt you! You can't attack before we know for sure what his limits are or how he operates his power! He's going to retaliate and he's going to win!"

"It's better this way," I responded, shrugging my shoulders. "This is too far. It's better to fix the mess. My family, my mess."

"Taylor stop!" Amy tried shouting this time. She laid her hand on me to do…something. We both knew she couldn't knock me out though. My bugs would keep acting on my last orders even after I was knocked out. "Please stop! You can't do it like this. My mom is a _lawyer_, this doesn't end well Taylor! Even with the kidnapping, even with him being a supervillain, he doesn't have a Kill Order, they'll lock you up. Stop!"

"It's better this way."

Madison was the only one of the three who even remotely approached calm as she stood and walked over to kneel in front of me, closing her hands around my mine. "Taylor, the PRT will come down on you if you kill him like this. We won't be able to get to your home quickly enough to hide the evidence and even if you get him without his power trumping you like Lisa says it will, he'll make certain to arrange things so that they _know_ it was you who killed him." I didn't particularly care. "And if that happens Amy is left all alone again. And Lisa is either considered complicit or left in the wind. And I'm stuck on a downward spiral getting worse every day." That would all be bad, but I could figure out how to deal with it later. I had to clean up my mess first. My spiders were moving through the house to the bedroom now and the bladebugs were almost at the windows. "What if you can't find Dinah after you kill him?" she finished in a whisper.

That brought me up short. I tilted my head and looked down at Madison as I had the assassin bugs stop for a second. "I know where his base is. I've known for weeks."

"Is it within your range? Can you be absolutely certain, right here and now, that Dinah is there?" The others stayed quiet as Madison talked.

I frowned. Hive dissolved into a swarm of bugs and _pushed_. I felt a strain on my control and a new lance of fire drove through my skull. I let it happen, Hive was partly me, if it wanted a say in things it deserved it. The next moment, the spiders in the room surged into a semblance of a face along the wall. "She's right. We can't be sure," the spiders said.

"We can find out easily enough. Then we can finish this," I said turning my attention to Hive's head as it pulled more local bugs to itself and formed a torso and legs.

"No you can't. You won't ever be able to bring yourself to kill Danny again unless you do it right now. Even if we find Dinah in an hour, it won't matter. You're never going to be this divorced from things again."

"You can't know that."

"I'm going to make certain of it," Hive shook its head. "You can't function like this - long term or short term. This is wrong. _You_ are wrong. Revenge is fine, but not when you are divorced from yourself. You are human; stay human. I shouldn't be this coherent. I am more than I should be. Take it back, Taylor. Take it back, and let your friends give you another option. Dinah is already gone. That's not going to change even if Danny dies tonight."

"You're my power," I replied, glaring at the construct.

"And I shouldn't be. Take it back, Taylor."

Scowling, I looked down at Madison again. She nodded up at me. Turning to Amy, I could only see fear in her eyes. I twisted to Lisa and she shook her still too-pale head.

My scowl grew deeper. "Fuck you all." I let my control drop to a normal level and set managers to create and pull clusters around my house back to regular patrols, dismantling the swarm. Hive dissolved into its own swarm as I pulled my emotions back to myself. Taking a shuddering breath, I stood, pushing past Madison. "I'm going for a jog. I'll be back in an hour. Nobody leave. I need some quiet."

* * *

I wasn't back in an hour. By the time I felt calm enough to return to the lair, it was almost midnight. I deliberately didn't check my bugs as I moved up the stairs. My mind was still racing and I didn't want to know if my friends were actually in the room or not until I was actually looking at them. Not with how I'd left things.

Not until I felt _sorry_ for how I left. Maybe Hive was right. Maybe there was something wrong with me under the surface. Something deeper than just the emotional trauma I thought I'd been dealing with. Amy had said Hive was my subconscious for all intents and purposes, but it hadn't talked like that. It hadn't talked like a part of me. It had talked like my bugs would if they had a 'voice'. Even that didn't sound quite right. Maybe it was the closest I could get right now.

And it hadn't been lying. I'd tried to muster up the same hatred and detachment I needed to kill my own father during the run. I'd gone close enough to the house. Not to do it, just to see if I could. It had been a long run. But Hive had done…something. I couldn't push enough emotions into it. It wouldn't take everything I gave it. I had too much feeling left, too many memories of the way things used to be, too much hope that maybe I was just leaping to conclusions like when I was a kid. I had pushed a single bladebug toward him and…I froze. I couldn't do it. I _wanted_ to. But I _couldn't_.

Maybe there was something wrong with me. My father was a monster. Why couldn't I fix my own mess?

Pushing the office door open I walked in on my shaking legs and nearly fell against the wall next to my almost fully augmented costume with the still working spiders. Everyone was still there. Madison had moved from her swivel chair to the couch and was sitting next to Lisa, both looking up from a computer towards me. Amy in turn had taken over a section of the bed and changed into sweatpants, cuddling a pillow to her chest and peaking over it at me.

"Taylor, do you want to talk?" Madison asked, uncurling her legs and half rising. Lisa put a hand on her arm and stopped the smaller girl from getting up.

"No," I said closing my eyes and resting my head on the wall. "Why does this hurt so much?"

"Because he's family," Lisa said softly. "Because you want to believe he's better. We always look to our folks to be better than we are. And when they aren't…I'm sorry Taylor. I wasn't thinking about how this would affect you. You needed to know, but I wasn't thinking about the ramifications. I messed up."

"No, you were right, I needed to know. Can we tell the PRT who he is? If I can't kill him, can we at least do that?"

Amy shifted on the bed. "We were talking about that while you were gone. If your dad is a precog I don't think it's a good idea. He might see them coming and do something drastic."

"Or just leave," Madison said. We all turned to look at her and she just shrugged. "What? It's a perfectly viable option. One strong precog plus _another_ strong hostage precog; if the PRT comes after him directly he could just pick up and go to a new town and start over. It's what a smart man would do. You dad seems like a smart guy so far Taylor."

"Fuck." I let my head fall back against the wall with muffled crack. Groaning at the dull pain from the impact I glared into nothingness. "So we do nothing?"

"Not nothing," Lisa said. "We work to find Dinah and see what her situation is, then reassess as appropriate once we have a better handle on his limits. Everyone has weaknesses. In the meantime, part of the reason I brought this thing up is because he's planning another hit. He's got Dinah, now he apparently wants a Master. Her name is Paige though her stage name was Canary."

The singer? I frowned and cracked an eye open again. "Wait, didn't she get put on trial for…Oh hell. There was a special about her on TV the other day. She's the one that guy was claiming got railroaded right? He was the only one who seemed like he had a clue…compared to everyone else on that segment…"

Madison nodded. "I saw that too. You mean the crazy idiot right?"

"That 'idiot' that they lambasted was completely right, yeah. Basically all of her human rights were ignored during her trial. Total kangaroo court and I didn't even have to dig for the details of the thing to figure that part out. She's being sent to the Birdcage and she never even had a chance to talk or write anything in her own defense. I actually did do some deep dives when Coil asked me to look into her and the rabbit hole just gets worse. I'm almost certain that her ex maimed himself intentionally just to fuck her over. There's a lot of ways that 'go fuck yourself' can be taken before jumping to the literal." Lisa sighed. "Couple in parahuman healing and that he's just a general asshole, well it's not a pretty picture."

Amy frowned and set her pillow to the side. "I think Carol's firm represented her. What does this have to do with us? And why is she going to the Birdcage if the guy is still alive?"

Lisa shook her head, shrugging. "She's a Rogue who looks a bit like the Simurgh, shortly after the bitch hits Canberra. Canary got shafted at a bad time. What does this have to do with us? Potentially nothing. Potentially a lot."

"Lisa, please stop dancing around the point. I'm too exhausted to deal with tiptoeing around things right now," I snapped.

She cringed. "I'm not doing it intentionally. I honestly don't want to talk about this. The Undersiders and a new group in town, the Travelers, are going to break her out of the transport when Dragon drives her out of town. It's just Canary and she's always cooperated so there's next to no security. Coil wants her, so he's managed to convince the guys that this is a good idea. If we're smart about things, and a bit lucky, we might be able to head them off. Steal her out from under them. Stop your dad from getting a new, strong, area of effect Master that works on humans."

"And you attack a _Birdcage_ transport!" Madison gasped. "We were _just saying_ how Taylor can't kill her dad because it would bring the PRT down on her. That's nothing compared to what this would do to us!"

Lisa looked to the side and squinted. "Mads, you don't even have powers, why are you here? Oh, wow. Damn, girl. Never mind. Okay moving on, Taylor, Amy, thoughts?"

"I'm with Madison," Amy said shaking her head. "I feel bad for the girl, but this is not a good idea."

"I'll do it." All eyes drew towards me. Lisa seemed to cringe a bit though she slowly nodded. The other two looked set to argue, I just held up my hand. "Coil is setting up for something big. I'm not going to let him do that. I'll call him in the morning after I can think a bit straighter and see if I can throw him off his game as well as maybe misdirect him. Paige doesn't deserve that hell and if she's already going to be broken out, then I'm not going to let her wind up in my father's clutches either."

"The PRT - "

"Has to know it's us and catch us to be a problem. We attack the Undersiders and Travelers immediately after they bust her out," I said. "Amy, you can change her looks once we have her safe. If she wants to stay, we'll let her. If she doesn't we give her a new face, and send her on her way. All we have to say to the PRT when they ask is we were tipped off to the attempted breakout, and Canary got away in the melee."

I could still see the doubt in Amy's eyes but Madison was nodding now as was Lisa. I honestly didn't really care what any of them thought right now. If Danny Hebert wanted Canary, he was _not going to get her_.

"Now, we have to go over one more thing before this fucking night can end," I said leaning forward and letting my elbows rest on my knees. "Lisa, I may not be able to get Dinah free tonight, but I _can_ get you out. One fucking way or the other, my father is letting you go or damn the consequences."

Lisa cocked her head and let out a slow breath as her mouth made a small 'O' shape for a second. "You really mean that don't you? Why? You barely even know me."

Shaking my head, I pointed at Madison. "She bullied me and wonder of wonders actually feels bad about it to an almost worrying degree." I pointed at Amy, "She got accidentally brainwashed and then ran away from her family." I pointed at myself, "And I apparently have deeper issues than I ever realized, along with a father who I want to hurt as much as possible right now, by tearing down everything he ever built. Yeah, I don't know your malfunction, but it can't be much worse than what we've already got here and you've stuck your neck out for us so far. Plus," I jerked my head towards some of the honeybees in the corner that flew a nice little formation around my head before settling back near their spider friends, "I know a lot more than you'd think. My dad didn't take files home, but he did do a lot of talking on the phone when he thought I was sleeping and his room was soundproofed. To be fair, it was, but it's not like was going to stop me. I don't know _you_. But I know your _character_. Even if I didn't, you came to us when you found out about the girl and you're trying to stop another girl from being kidnapped too. That's good enough for me."

"Even if it puts you right back in the same situation that we just stopped you from carrying out earlier tonight?" she asked.

I nodded. "I have to say enough at some point. If I don't draw the line now, I'm never going to. If I force my father to run, then so be it. I'll just follow him if I have to."

Madison nodded. "You're calmer now. Not scary calm. Just…calm calm. More, I don't know, human?"

"Less emotional bleed off, more mental exhaustion" I said sighing. "The swarm won't let me push as much its way anymore. At least for the moment. So, Lisa do you want to join our little dysfunctional band of terrible terrors?"

She smirked and held up a finger. "Only if we can ourselves the Terrible Terrors."

I groaned, Madison snorted, and Amy threw her pillow at the blonde. "I will literally give you blue skin!"

"I'll bribe you with footrubs!" Lisa shot back throwing the pillow back towards Amy.

Amy tried to scowl, but the smile almost ruined the expression. "I cannot be bought so easily!"

"She likes M&Ms, sweeten the pot with candy," Madison interjected moving further away from Lisa to save the computer from the flying items.

Looking at my friends, I was able to finally crack a small smile. It may not have been much, but at least we had made some progress.

And a new friend.

Now we just had to figure out how to screw over my father and save someone destined for the Birdcage. No pressure. No pressure at all.

* * *

I opened my eyes as the glare of the sunlight fell across my face and speared into my barely cracked gaze. Groaning, I flopped to the side to escape the deadly light only for a muffled grunt to sound in protest and an arm to shove roughly against my stomach.

Huh?

Oh. Right. Kicking my brain into gear, I blinked my eyes open again, trying to see who I had rolled over onto. Madison. Right. Because she had slept over since it was so late. So had Lisa whose knee was currently buried in Madison's back. And Amy's arm was draped over my stomach. Right. Because none of this was awkward after I had yelled at everyone and proceeded to storm out for nearly two hours on a run around the most dangerous parts of town hoping in vain _someone_ would jump me that I could beat up.

Yeah, I didn't have issues. None at all.

Carefully, lifting Amy's arm off me, I wiggled out from between her and Madison, smirking as she shuffled closer to the petite brunette in her sleep. Amy went from cuddling up to me to cuddling up to Madison with zero issues and stayed firmly in dreamland. Excellent. She needed the human pillow. Madison probably did too, considering how badly I'd freaked her out last night. Ugh, how had I become responsible for the mental health of that girl? And how was I coming to enjoy seeing her smile?

This city messed with my head so much.

Yawning, I stretched and checked in with the patrols as I went about getting my morning routine done. Bathroom issues resolved, the swarm reporting everything clear, I shifted into the breakroom and went for breakfast. At least that was my plan until I nearly ran into Lisa smiling at me just past the door with a plate already in hand.

"Morning, sunshine. Hot pocket? You guys need a grill so we can cook eggs. I'll get on that today. I'll also see about fixing up the other room up here so that we don't all have to cram onto the bed. Tight fit that."

I took the plate and raised my eyebrows at her. "I did tell you the couch pulled out."

"You think I'm sleeping on a pull out? Yeah, no. I have _class_."

"You're shacked up with a bunch of teenage runaways in a converted office lair above a factory that makes telephone pole cameras," I replied utterly deadpan.

"Madison isn't a runaway. She's just a pervert."

"I recall you saying that she used that as an escape and didn't really believe anything she said when talking like that."

Lisa laughed and held up her hands. "Okay, okay, you caught me! You win this hot pocket as a prize! So, feeling better this morning?"

I paused and looked inward taking stock of myself and my swarm. Surprisingly, I actually did have a bit more perspective now. "Actually…yeah, I do. I still want to tear down everything he's built and dance on the ashes. But I don't feel murderous anymore."

"That's good. I'm supposed to be the amoral one. I'm the villain remember? You gotta keep those standards high, Taylor. Let me take care of the dirty stuff."

Frowning I shook my head. "Not a villain anymore. Independant now."

"Uh huh, I'll let you tell the Protectorate that. Do you want your phone now?"

Squaring my shoulders I held out my hand. "Should we wake the others?"

"You're the boss lady. It's up to you. I can't listen to this call anyway."

"Why?"

She shook her head, grimacing. "Sometimes, when I talk to Coil it's fine. Other times, it's like there's a chainsaw stabbing my skull and following up with molten lava. Usually when that happens I get knocked out. When I don't…well the first time it happened I damn near dented my skull hitting my head against the wall to make it _stop_. My power doesn't like his. When he's actively using it and I'm nearby or can hear him, things don't work out well for me. My ability is basically super guesswork. I fill in the blanks about things. It's always on, unless I'm actively suppressing it. When Coil is using his power, mine freaks right the fuck out and surges into overdrive. It goes from a measly little 15 miles per hour to 5,000 miles per second. I don't think he knew that at first; we both found out by accident when he damn near killed me the first time. Now he uses it in fits and spurts when I piss him off. Right now talking to you? He's _going_ to use his power. So I'm going to go into the other room, put some headphones on, blare loud music, throw a pillow over my head and pray it's enough to keep out what's coming."

Gingerly I took the phone from her and nodded. "Maybe you shouldn't have stopped me from acting last night."

"Maybe not, but I don't want you to become a murderer, Taylor. Not like that, and not of your own parent. You're a good person. Stay that way."

As she got up to walk back to the bedroom I stopped her with a soft call. "Lisa? Wake up Amy. Just in case you do get hit with backlash, she can knock you out a lot safer and faster than anything you might do to yourself in desperation."

She nodded and closed the door behind her. Taking a deep breath I let it out slow and counted to a hundred to give her a chance to get settled. Then I unlocked the screen and made my call to the devil.

"Good morning, Taylor."

"Let's skip the pleasantries today shall we, _Dad_?" I said, making an effort to keep the venom out of my voice. I was able to stop my teeth from grinding together though it was a near thing. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and a quick look through my bugs showed me Madison standing behind me. I reached my free hand up to squeeze her hand back.

"Well if you want to get right to business I suppose that works. I generally prefer to have coffee first, and from what I remember you usually like tea in the morning, but very well. What do you wish to discuss?"

"Dinah Alcott."

"No."

"What?"

"It's not that complicated, Taylor," he said sighing. "You want me to let her go home. One doesn't need to have powers to know where you're going with that lead-in. I can't do that. I am sorry."

"You kidnapped a _twelve year old_!" Madison's hand squeezed harder as I shouted.

"I did. She'd being treated very well. If it helps, the children at her school were not being very kind to her and I am ensuring her education is continuing uninterrupted. She has all the entertainment she could want as well. It may be a cage, but it's a gilded cage. Depending on how things turn out, she may even end up being my right hand woman if you don't wish to take that mantle. She's integral for making sure the least problems arise and the fewest people get hurt, Taylor."

Fuck him. Fuck him and his logic and his - I drew in a breath and my hand dropped into my lap. _Precog_. He knew how this conversation was going to go. He knows exactly what to say to get me, if not on his side, then at least to stop fighting against him so hard. He might be completely truthful in what he was saying, because it did sound like the best way forward, but there were so many horrible ways to explain that to me and he chose the _best possible one_. Powers were bullshit.

I could use this though. If he thought he pacified me on one thing…

"I'm not satisfied with that. But we can come back to that. If I let you have Dinah without fighting you, I want Tattletale."

His pause was audible, as was his eventual sigh. "She's very useful to me."

"She's also operating with a literal gun to her head, so you can't trust her. You lose nothing by letting her go."

"I lose a powerful asset, Taylor. You'd be surprised how much money can motivate a person. Tattletale is difficult to work with and can be frustrating to keep motivated, but she is, at heart, a simple person with simple vices. Why should I give her to you for nothing?"

"It's not for nothing. This is a tit for tat, Dad. You give me Tattletale, no strings attached, and I don't tell the PRT where to find you."

He actually laughed at that one. "That sort of threat only works once you know. Are you sure you want to use it here instead of the girl?"

"You've made it pretty clear that I'm not getting Dinah, no matter what I do, and my friends were fairly explicit about what might happen if I pushed too hard on that matter as well. So yes, I think I'll use that threat here thanks."

This time his chuckle almost seemed…_proud_. It made my skin crawl. "You're growing up. Learning to negotiate is an excellent skill to have. You realize of course, that should the PRT or Protectorate attempt to capture me, I could just relocate to a new city? With my power base, my own abilities, and Dinah as well…it wouldn't be that hard."

"No, but it would be _inconvenient_." This was a gamble, but it felt right. He liked this city and he wanted to fix this city. He expected me to lead with _that_ argument. So I had to do something else.

"To a degree, probably. Which is why I would like to avoid it. How about this? An exchange of sorts. I don't want Tattletale off the board entirely. If you can prove that she works well in your team, you can keep her free and clear. There's a Merchant base, I'll send you the address. They just got in a shipment of the newest Tinker drug, Kremclin. Nasty business, tends to kill nearly half the people who take it because the dosage is so precise. And these are _Merchants_ we're talking about so they aren't going to be exact with their drugs. The base should only have regular human guards, no capes; the drug is new so it's not considered a high priority by Skidmark. If your team, along with Tattletale, can destroy the Kremclin and take out the base, I'll consider this negotiation closed. If you can't, we'll figure something else out."

I stayed quiet as I weighed my options. Fuck. He was using his power again. And what's worse was he was _right_. This was a nearly perfect option. I'd probably be going after that base either way and if I could get something out of it while doing so…Fucking precogs.

"Send me the address."

"They are starting distribution tonight at 9. I would suggest attacking before then. My scouts advised that these guards are usually high sometime between 6 and 8. They like to get their sampling in before starting handing out the product."

"Dad, remember," I said as I reached up to squeeze Madison's hand on my shoulder again. "You come after Tattletale when this is done, I'm not stopping until I find you and end you. She's one of my people now. Same with Amy. Same with Madison. You touch any of them, you don't get to walk away."

"Hmm," he hummed into the phone. "How did you know I knew about Miss Clements?"

"You have spies in the PRT and I told them to leave her alone. I'm not a fool, I'm just a bit more…grounded than you."

"For now maybe," he sighed and suddenly sounded a lot wearier than he had in ages. "The cape life will beat you down soon enough, Taylor. You really should hang up your costume while you can. We all lose our way at some point."

The line went dead and I dropped the phone into my lap. Madison started to slip away, but I clutched her hand harder. Instead of shuffling back to the bedroom, she stepped around the side of the couch and sat down next to me. I leaned over and hugged her, burying my head in her shoulder.

"…Thank you," she murmured.

"You're my people now, Mads," I whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Guardian' by Vulgarian. This is a Taylor/Lisa AU fic. In this, Taylor ends up with the powers of a Guardian instead of a typical shard. I don't know much about Destiny as a whole, but I've had no issues following the story and it's quite a lot of fun. Taylor makes quick friends with Sabah as well and watching her get all jealous of Taylor with a crush is hilarious and adorable. Also, Taylor and Lisa form a team to go Villain Exterminating which is awesome! It's also a complete fic! Hosted on Ao3.


	11. Turbulence 02

**Turbulence 02**

"Remind me why we're working for Coil again when I thought I was supposed to be _leaving_ his employ?" Tattletale commented with a snarky lilt as she crouched next to me on the roof of a small building near the Merchant base. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and I had moved a lot of the swarm into position. We were almost ready.

"We're not working for Coil."

"Could've fooled me."

I glared at her. It didn't help the twist in my stomach that she was half right. Just because these guys needed to go, it didn't change that my father had 'asked' us to do this. "Had I known about this place I would've hit it myself. And he's not paying us. We're not working for Coil."

Darwin chimed in over our earpieces. "Queen, this is grey enough that we might as well be. You know we'd never do this, this close to another, err, thing. Stop arguing and get your head in the game."

Grumbling I nodded and turned my attention back to the clusters that I had slip inside the building. "I count ten people. God these guys are gross. I'm not going in there if I can avoid it. Tattletale, there's eight on the bottom floor and two on the catwalks. Looks like three are in the small room up front and five in the larger warehouse in the back."

"How many boxes in the warehouse?" she asked.

"Twelve."

Beside me Tattletale whistled. "That's a lot of drugs."

"According to the PRT advisory, Kremclin is usually distributed in pills about the size of a typical Advil," Watchtower chimed in. "Hmm, oh wait, that's the processed stuff. If they haven't actually done anything with it, it might still be raw and then they'd need to…It's a Tinker drug what idiot would import the raw form?"

Tattletale snorted a laugh. "Don't overestimate Merchants; though, honestly, they usually are as stupid as they seem, they do know their drugs, and their capes can actually be dangerous. Skidmark for one, would be deadly if he had half a thought in his head. Queen, can you can get eyes inside the crates to be sure? The raw stuff is flammable so we might be able to just set a fire if they were dumb."

I shook my head. "Not dumb. It's pills."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Darwin replied. "Are you guys moving in, or are you sending in Hive?"

"Hive's already forming on the catwalk," I said. "Dammit, wait for backup, stupid subconscious."

My construct grabbed the local cluster of enhanced spiders and bladebugs, and with just an arm and its head formed, it proceeded to tackle one of the two roving thugs on the catwalk. The merchant was knocked out from the blow to the back of its head and a tranqwasp follow-up, while I scrambled to hit the second rover with a small cluster of tranqwasps at the same time. Both went down with minimal fuss and Hive finished forming its body, sending a salute towards my cluster as it sighted in on the larger group in the back of the warehouse.

I moved my own bugs to focus more on the three up front. "Get ready to move in if needed, Tattletale. Catwalk guys are down. Starting main attack…now!"

I surged all my clusters in from their hiding spots in and around the warehouse swarming them over the Merchants. Hive, in turn, broke apart and dropped its bugs down to the ground level, reforming a moment later and lashing out the closest target.

Using a tranqwasp cluster I took out one of the seated gang members before they could react. A second was tied up by a whole cluster of spiders crawling over him, their silk production glands amped to ridiculous levels thanks to Darwin. The third though…I _thought_ I had him with a tranqwasp but the guy must have been high already, because he just shrugged it off cackling. Then he flipped the table over and pulled an honest-to-god _flamethrower_ from it's holster there!

"What the fucking hell?!" I shouted jumping to my feet. The gang member whipped the spray of his weapon in an arc in front of him, only missing his two teammates through sheer dumb luck as I managed to pull the webbed one off his feet in time to avoid the stream of liquid fire.

"Talk to me Queen!" Tattletale urged stepping up beside me.

"He's got a goddamn flamethrower! Who the fuck keeps a flamethrower under a table?!"

Tattletale cursed. "They were tipped off. How's Hive?"

"Struggling." My construct had managed to knock out two of the five enemies, but the last three were giving it issues. Two more of them had flamethrowers, same as the asshole up front. The third was hanging back and listening to someone on his phone. I couldn't get any bugs close enough to him with the general chaos of the battle. Plus, taking out the immediate threats was more important.

"We should get down there," Tattletale said starting to run to the fire escape we'd scaled originally. Cursing under my breath I followed after her.

I took more direct control of several of the mini-clusters, ignoring the growing headache as I threw bugs into a sacrificial run at the flame wielders. Hundreds died. Enough made it through. I was able to gunk up the mechanism on the guy up front and one in the back. Two out three of the weapons were out of commission for the moment, and I set clusters to knock out the Merchants before they could fix their guns.

The third guy Hive got as Tattletale and I hit the ground and started running towards the warehouse. He'd tried to turn the stream of flame on my construct but Hive just dissolved its legs dropping its body below the flames and punched out with a bladebug enhanced arm. The swipe sliced a jagged wound along the underside of the thug's arm and Hive surged towards him.

It didn't make it quickly enough to stop the idiot from turning the stream of flame on the pile of drugs.

The _whoomph_ of the explosion was enough to knock me on my ass. Groaning, I levered my head up and looked with wide eyes at the resulting fireball that had burst into being directly over the warehouse. "Holy fuck," Tattletale muttered from the ground beside me. "You get the license plate on that bus?"

"They hit the drugs with the flamethrower," I replied back still staring at the flames. "Apparently the pills explode instead of just catching fire."

A spike of pain rammed into my head. The bugs that were still alive inside the warehouse coalesced forming a rudimentary humanoid shape again. Hive wasn't as 'together' as it had been, but it was still there. I grabbed for the remaining clusters as the flaming iron rod of pain faded to the dull throbbing of a bad headache and Hive started to drag the survivors outside. I set up my stronger, sturdier bugs into chains to do the same with the ones up front. They wouldn't be happy gang members, but at least they wouldn't burn to death.

That was the plan at least. Until the piles of debris at the back of the room shifted and lurched. I pushed my body to its feet as I focused more attention on what was going on in the warehouse.

"Queen? What's up?" Tattletale asked shakily climbing to her feet. "The building's aflame, but I think it's holding for now…so, what…?"

"Not sure," I replied, taking a step closer. The trash moved again and my eyes widened as it suddenly shot into the air forming limbs and a rough human head and torso. "Uh oh. Mush was inside. He must've been the last guy. How do we take out Mush?"

Darwin swore over the earpieces. "You need heavy hitters or something that can cut through his defenses. Neither of you has that. The bladebugs are too tiny. I'm on my way. Keep him busy for five minutes. I can drive fast. Madison where are the keys?"

"Side table. Get one of the terrariums from the ground floor on your way out. I moved two to sit near the front loading bay door by the car. One has roaches, the other has ants. Either should work as a good base to make something bigger."

Tattletale shook her head. "Doesn't have to be huge. Just needs really strong, sharp, long jaws. Mush can change his form to a degree and he stretches into cords or tendrils to grab his junk. If Queen or Hive can use the new critter to cut some of his tentacle things he'll run away or pass out because it hurts too much."

"Darwin copies." Amy sounded like she was already in the van and driving towards us as she replied that time. Hopefully traffic was clear.

"Or I could just try to get his eyes," I muttered as everyone started planning and moving around me. "I'm not exactly helpless guys, just less effective."

Tattletale shook her head. "Bad idea. Going for the eyes on a non-regenerator is a quick way to get a target on your back from the rest of the villains in the scene. His limbs will heal because of his power. His head won't."

"I could just tag his head with a few of the traqwasps."

"Good idea. Try it. Be prepared for it to not work though because his biology is different from the norm."

Hive was keeping the Merchant cape busy while I got the rest of his underlings away from the burning wreck of the building, but it was more of a harrying tactic than anything else. Unlike with Oni Lee, at least this time, Hive wasn't being overwhelming. It couldn't do any real damage but Mush was fairly slow compared to my construct and so neither could he. Couldn't kill my bugs if you couldn't _hit_ my bugs.

I had just dragged the last Merchant outside when Mush roared and launched himself at Hive. My construct smirked and dissolved for a second letting the cape rush right past where it had been moments earlier. Mush's momentum carried him straight through the wall of the warehouse leaving him face down outside, as Hive reformed behind him, outside the walls of the burning building.

The move had helped me as well, since I was able to get a few of the modified wasps onto Mush's face when he ran at Hive. Unfortunately, despite the venom from the tranquilizer stings, it looked like Tattletale was right, it wasn't having much of an effect on the Changer.

The fire inside the warehouse on the other hand, seemed to greatly appreciate the new airflow as it flared up after Mush broke through the wall. It quickly spread, lighting up the rest of the unburned sections inside.

Tattletale grimaced. "So much for their insurance premiums…Help me drag these guys further away. They're already hurt, let's at least try to keep them alive when this place collapses. Thank god it's far away from the other buildings here."

I moved to help her as Mush charged fruitlessly at Hive yet again. The bug golem just laughed, dodging to the side and falling into a, clearly fake, martial arts stance holding up a beckoning hand and baiting him in again in an imitation of an Earth Aleph movie.

"Queen!" Darwin shouted in my ear. I jerked up, dropping the webbed up gang member I was dragging onto the pavement. "I should be entering your range in a moment. I used bugs you had already tagged for the change. Can you feel them?"

I reached out. There was…something tingling at the edges of my awareness but I couldn't be sure. "Sort of. I feel an echo. I think I'm going to have to tag it again. How far out are you?"

"One, maybe two minutes. The explosion scared everyone away."

"And scared the Protectorate _towards_ you," Watchtower chimed in. "Armsmaster is on his way over. You've got maybe five minutes before backup gets there."

"Got it." I finished dragging the Merchant away from the building and turned to the van as my teammate skidded into view. Running up towards the side, I stopped and drew in a breath as I got a look at Darwin's newest creations with my power.

They were beautiful little balls of destruction.

The creatures Darwin had formed this time were about half the size of newborn chicks complete with small wings on their backs that were just barely large enough to support their weight. They were mostly mouth, with a tiny stomach and a comparatively huge acid secreting gland that bulged out, making them look like a lopsided ball with protruding teeth. And that acid gland was _nasty_. If I was reading their biology right, it seemed like it would eat through steel in seconds. And their jaws were strong enough to snap through bone too if the acid didn't work out. They didn't look like they'd live long since they were high intensity little critters, but damn would they do damage while they lasted!

"Holy crap, Darwin," I muttered with wide eyes. The bugs flew out of the terrarium and headed towards Mush's running battle with Hive. "You are _vicious_."

"Nobody hurts the people I care about," she replied back, her eyes narrowed and her lips raised in a scowl. "Kick his fucking ass."

"Geez, he hasn't even actually hurt us yet. We're already kinda kicking their asses, but the extra firepower is appreciated." Turning away, I ran back to Tattletale's side just as my new doombugs made it onto Mush. Darwin had only managed to make seven of them - probably too little raw material to make more - but that was enough. Hive kept him distracted while the first few spat out their little balls of highly concentrated acid onto his arm. The others started burrowing into the trash arm with their strong jaws, ripping and tearing into the debris tossing it out behind them as they moved. Mush seemed to realize something was wrong as the first doombug hit something a bit more wiry than the surrounding trash and dug in with its jaws.

The reaction was extreme. Mush roared and jerked his arm back, not that that helped him at all since the bugs were inside his 'body' now. Screaming, Mush did an awkward sort of tap dance backwards, as more of the doombugs reached his actual arm and spat acid onto it. He flailed backward and Hive stepped in slashing with the bladebugs at the weak-point in the arm. Some of Mush's trash fell to the ground and he screamed again.

Some of the roving patrols several blocks away detected a motorcycle revving towards our direction. Armsmater was almost here. I started to pull the doombugs back, however Mush dropped to his knees as they shifted. He fell to the ground, letting the trash around him fall apart.

"Stop, stop, just stop, I give up. You win, I give up, just stop whatever the fucking hell you're doing!" As the last of his trash fell off his body, the doombugs were left sitting on his arm. His flesh was red and raw, but otherwise looked mostly unharmed, though he was clutching at where I had been biting him. I had my critters turn as one to face his head and then lifted off of his arm, settling down on the ground a foot or so away rattling their wings. He cringed back away from the new bugs.

Hive just chuckled and waved an arm towards the doombugs. "Don't piss off Queen or Darwin, Mush. Surrendering was a good idea."

"Hey, Queen, I think I'm going to go hang out with Darwin…" Tattletale said nodding towards the sound of Armsmaster's bike. "You know, since we have company."

"Stay," I said shaking my head and starting to walk towards where Armsmaster would pull up. "They need to know you're with us now; it's going to come out anyway and this is a distinctly good thing we just did."

"Besides hurting Mush badly enough to make him cry you mean?" Tattletale muttered. "Maybe don't mention that part."

I just shrugged. He wasn't permanently hurt so it was fine. But I did see her point with cautious editing. History was written by the victors and that's what we were today after all. The Protectorate hero's bike stopped near our van and he stepped off, Halberd already in hand as he walked towards the two of us. All I could really see of his face was his lower jaw and it was frowning. Not the best of starts, but I suppose he wasn't immediately attacking so things could certainly be worse. Holding up a hand in greeting I said, "Hello, we actually just finished up here and were about to call in the PRT for some assistance with carting off the bad guys, but I guess, since you're here, that's not really needed anymore."

Armsmaster's frown deepened. "Queen. Tattletale is standing with you. She is a villain."

"Actually, I've swapped sides. I'm an Independent now. Queen recruited me," Tattletale replied smiling her cat grin.

Armsmaster froze setting his halberd on the ground and just stared at Tattletale for several long moments. "You are…telling the truth…My equipment must be broken…"

"I'm also thinking of going by Insight now."

"Wait, what? Since when?" I turned to her and cocked my head to the side. That was news to me. "Why are you changing names?"

"Rebranding. Same thing as Darwin, really. It helps the PRT sell my shift in status to their bosses and makes me look better in the public's eyes. Both the cops and the public are far less likely to put up a fuss if I change my name and adjust my costume a bit, even if it's blaringly obvious that I'm the same person. Plus, Insight sounds less like a bitch than Tattletale in general, which makes it a simpler pill to swallow. I still _am_ a bitch, but it _sounds_ less bitchy."

I looked at Armsmaster. "That can't be true. Changing names doesn't actually make things easier on the PRT like that, does it?"

"Actually it does, from what I'm told. I don't really understand it myself," he replied looking just as lost as I was. "Why did you recruit a villain to your team? This doesn't make sense, Queen. It sets a dangerous precedent."

Shaking my head I held up a hand. "Okay, I'm willing to explain, but I assume you have something to tranquilize capes in your kit right?" At his nod I continued. "Awesome, cause my stuff didn't work on Mush. He's surrendered for the moment, but I don't really want him to decide to run away while we chat, so can you tranq him and then we can keep talking?"

Armsmaster stared at me with an open mouth for another few seconds before finally being able to reply. "You control bugs. She talks. Mush _surrendered_ to you?"

"Yup," Tattletale chimed in. "Queen is awesome. Also, don't annoy Darwin. Good general advice."

He nodded and started to walk past us towards the bugs that I formed into an arrow pointing at Mush. "Noted." Hive waved to him as he walked up. Armsmaster seemed to almost freeze in place as he stared at the construct, then gave a half-hearted semi-wave back and continued on to Mush. The Merchant cape looked up at Armsmaster who flipped his Halberd around where a small needle extended from the bottom of the staff. A quick jab later, and Mush was off to lala land.

Tattletale and I walked up to Armsmaster and Hive dissolved back into the swarm behind us, its constituent bugs falling back under my control. I redistributed them to start hauling the other members of the gang around towards us. "Thanks, he was a bit of a pain to take down."

"A bit of a pain…" Armsmaster muttered. "You realize we're probably going to have to up your threat ratings now?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea what they were before, so that really doesn't mean anything to me. Oh, you might want to call for a van or something too. There's another nine guys. I'm getting them over here now."

His frown was back as he turned to look at the still burning warehouse. "The fire department is just waiting on my all clear before they come to the scene, and the PRT should be right behind them. Nine additional members? How are you getting them here? Is Darwin bringing them - Oh. That is…Yes, your threat rating is definitely in need of adjustment. That is very disconcerting Queen."

He must have caught sight of my little parade of mini-clusters with their webbed up Merchants being either dragged or carried depending on which bugs were in which cluster. "I get why people don't like it, I do, but you gotta admit: it's convenient as hell."

"I can appreciate efficiency," he said sighing. "No serious injuries?"

Tattletale grimaced. "None by our hand, well, unless you count Mush. Some of these idiots had flamethrowers around _extremely_ flammable Tinker drugs. Like, _BOOM_ flammable. That explosion? These fools blew up their own stock with their own people still inside."

"They also almost burned two of their own people to death when they grabbed the first flamethrower," I chimed in. "I just barely managed to knock the guys out of the way."

He sighed and rested his halberd back on the ground. "Yes, that sounds like the Merchants. Does your team need medical atten-No, I suppose it wouldn't would it?" He turned and peered at the van near his bike. Darwin was inside, but she hadn't come out to say hello. I started to wave her over when I remembered back to the brief glimpse I'd had when I grabbed the doombugs. The only 'costume' she had on at the moment was a scarf over her face. Ah. "Is Darwin still angry with the Protectorate? Is that why she doesn't wish to leave your transport?"

"No costume," I replied grimacing. "She wasn't supposed to be here, but neither was Mush and we had to improvise."

"I see. One moment." He started speaking quietly into the side of his helmet, where I assumed a communicator was hidden away. I had a few bugs close and was able to hear him giving the all clear to the other departments to send their rescue and response vehicles in. Then, he nodded and turned back to Tattletale as my bug parade started to line the gang members up beside Mush. "Now, back to where we were before. Queen, I need you to explain this situation with…Insight."

I looked at my friend who gave me a small nod in reply. Sagging a little I started talking. "She wasn't willingly employed by her previous boss. More of a 'work for me or die' situation."

"She could have come to us."

"No. She couldn't," I sighed. "Those leaks in the PRT I told Miss Militia about and that call from the supervillain who gave me a job offer? Her boss was that same guy." He sucked in a breath, clearly he understood the implications. "I put some dots together after they each approached me separately. She wanted out. You know I have badass range with my powers. I used that and found out some damaging information on him. With a bit of maneuvering, a lot of luck and some help, I leveraged a mutually assured destruction deal with her boss. Now Tattletale, or well, Insight I guess, works with my team and she's free and clear from the consequences her, now ex, boss had laid down."

Armsmaster slowly bobbed his head. "I can understand that sequence of events. It is logical, if unfortunate. As there are no current outstanding warrants for Tattletale and the personnel here take obvious priority…coupled with your takedown of a Merchant drug warehouse…Very well. Insight, if you continue to keep away from criminal activity and work towards the betterment of this city, I will speak on your behalf with the Director."

My friend nodded and gave Armsmaster a quick salute. "Appreciate that, Sir. And just to show that I'm being all friendly like and willing to work together, I won't make any snarky comments right now!"

Groaning, I took her arm and started walking towards our van. "That's our cue to go. Thanks for the help with the tranquilizer."

"Wait, we need your team's name."

"Call us the Creationists!" Tattletale said, smiling and prancing away. I glared at her back and turned to Armsmaster with a small helpless shrug.

"I'll send Miss Militia a note if that changes. We hadn't officially decided on a name and all the best bug themed ones are kinda taken by me and Hive already…I shot myself in the foot before I even got started."

"Talk to your team. I'll put it down as probable for the moment. Contact me or Miss Militia quickly if you want it changed. Once PHO gets ahold of it, things like this tend to be difficult to alter." He handed me a card and nodded once more.

"Got it. Thanks again, have a pleasant evening, Armsmaster." Waving goodbye to the hero I followed after my erstwhile teammate. We _seriously _needed to have a long conversation about names and the appropriate times to discuss them with the group.

* * *

Armsmaster set his helmet down on his workbench as he dropped into the chair next to it and started the complicated process of removing his armor. While a quick release was simple enough, it led inevitably to more intensive maintenance which was always frustrating when it could have been avoided. This was simpler and there was no pressing need to hurry. He needed to think, and thinking was always easier when his hands were busy.

Or when he had someone he trusted to bounce ideas off of.

Thumbing his computer screen on, he hit the call button as his gauntlet was removed and started to unlock the chestplate while waiting for the connection to be made.

"Hello, Colin," Dragon's warm voice reached out to him setting a small smile onto his face. Dragon was one of the few things able to make him smile anymore.

"Hello. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Of course not. I always have time for you, Colin. What's going on that you felt the need to call? It's fairly early for you. Are you actually intending to sleep for once?"

He chuckled. "Perhaps. I do almost have the Endbringer alert system finished, and the nanothorn halberd is basically done. Once I complete a bit more work on one of those systems I can turn in. But no, that's not why I'm contacting you. I need a bit of advice on a…social situation of sorts. We both know that's not exactly my forte. I could use some input on how to proceed."

Her avatar rolled its eyes at him as the last of his armor came off. "Colin, saying it's not your forte is like saying I have a mild issue with the outdoors. How can I help?"

"Let me replay some video footage for you from earlier. I was alerted to an altercation in the warehouse district near the docks after an explosion caused several alerts with the PRT and Protectorate. This is what I found when I arrived on the scene." He connected his helmet to the computer and let his friend review the recording of Queen and her team along with the unconscious gang members present.

Dragon took a minute to run through the recording while Colin started the maintenance on his armor. She hummed once she was done and he looked back up at her. "You handled that rather well I think."

"Thank you. We've been warned to tread carefully around Queen. With her range and variety, Piggot's wary of needlessly angering her. Miss Militia has vouched for her character and we have had several troopers mention that they have interacted with her prior to realizing she had powers, during periods where she was exploring the city. She seems, for all intents and purposes, relatively stable if somewhat isolated."

"It sounds like she would be an excellent recruit for the Wards," Dragon commented.

Colin nodded. "She would, except that there was an issue with Shadow Stalker. It's believed that the girl caused Queen's trigger event."

"I see. And she knows Shadow Stalker's identity I take it?"

"We found out who she was because she set us onto the investigation into her own trigger and Shadow Stalker's civilian problems, yes." He shifted positions and frowned at Dragon's avatar. "I don't fully understand why she can't trust us, since we've taken action into the matter, but Hannah has assured me that it would go badly if we were to force the issue."

"It very likely would Colin." Dragon nodded. "From what you showed me just now, she seems perfectly willing to work with you as things are. I would recommend letting the situation lie. Especially with Amy Dallon working with her now. Independents are not necessarily a bad thing. Just look at me." She smiled and he laughed.

"You don't really count as Independent, Dragon, since you primarily work with Guild. But this isn't why I called. It's useful background, but not why I called."

"Tattletale. Or Insight now, yes?"

"Correct." She was always good at seeing exactly what he intended, without him having to try to explain himself. "Everything that she said pinged true on my lie detector. _Almost_ everything that Queen said did the same."

"I noticed that, yes. There a bit about where she was explaining how she got her friend away from the threat hanging over her head where she lied." Dragon paused. "That's what has you worried?"

"How should I proceed? Tattletale obviously was in a situation that we normally allow compromises on. However, they did not fully detail what occurred. I feel I should have confronted them. I feel that if I had asked they would have explained in detail."

Dragon sighed. "Colin, you were correct in not confronting them. They didn't tell you for a reason. Queen likely had to compromise her morals in order to help her friend. She doesn't want you to know details because she is ashamed. Your lie detector indicated it wasn't a complete lie so she wasn't entirely deceiving you. Independents work on the outskirts, they can make the sort of deals that you cannot for precisely this sort of reason. Let it lie, Colin. Tattletale was never a big player anyway. The bank incident was the only thing of real note, and even that was cut off before it truly became an issue. Thanks, again, to Queen. Let it lie."

Colin slowly nodded. "I…will trust your judgement on this, Dragon. We'll still have to keep an eye on them however. With a prior villain on their team now, we will have to be vigilant to ensure that they don't go down the wrong path."

"Of course," Dragon said. "Just don't persecute them without cause and you'll do fine. I'm proud of you, Colin. You handled this situation very well!"

"Thank you, Dragon," he replied back, warmth flooding through his chest at her praise, reminding him why he kept pushing himself so hard to learn these ridiculous social cues.

"Always, Colin. Now, we should discuss another item as well while you're on the line. I'm concerned about these moles."

"I'm already aware of the vulnerability, the knowledge that the same villain that backed the Undersiders also approached Queen was startling however. It speaks to larger plans, especially if he has agents inside the PRT. With the Director's approval, I've already begun compartmentalizing information to see if we can narrow down who the moles might be. We're focusing primarily on the personnel who had knowledge of Queen's civilian identity after the original meeting."

She nodded. "Okay. Please keep me in the loop if you're able. I'll assist with monitoring their phone traffic to see if we can identify just who the ultimate culprit is."

"I'll forward you my files. Dragon, if you wouldn't mind looking at something else for me…" he trailed off, frowning as he pushed aside some papers on the desk.

"What is it Colin?"

"Over the past week and a half, there's been some disappearances in an Empire Eighty Eight controlled area of the city. Normally we would chalk this up to E88 activity and let the BBPD handle matters, however, it's the Empire themselves who are disappearing. That implies vigilantism, which implies a cape."

Dragon shook her head. "That's a large leap, Colin. Not every vigilante is a cape. Some people just snap, and not everyone can trigger."

"Yes, but this is unusual. The ABB has already disavowed knowledge and the Merchants are not nearly organized enough to pull something like this off. In addition, it's nowhere near their territory."

"Could the ABB be lying?"

"Lung would usually claim credit for this sort of thing. He likes to flaunt his accomplishments. This sort of quiet attack…it doesn't seem to be his style. If it wasn't Kaiser's own gang being attacked, I'd actually think it was him."

"Odd…send me your data. Let me see if I can find a pattern."

"Of course. Take note of Alabaster. He disappeared last night. No one has seen him in hours. Again, normally that's not a cause for concern, since it hasn't been very long, but considering his last known position was near this area…I'm worried." He tapped out a few keys on his computer and forwarded her the documents that he had collated from his team.

Dragon's avatar frowned as she started to read through the files he had sent to her system. "Yes, that would be cause for increased scrutiny. I'll prioritize this."

"Thanks. Now, about that Endbringer alert system. I had an idea on how to tie the satellites into the setup on the drive back…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Originally, I made a typo and this line read: "Groaning, I levered my head up and looked with WIFE eyes at the resulting fireball that had burst into being directly over the warehouse." Raven helpfully corrected me with the extremely amusing anecdote: "Wife eyes are VERY different, though just as disapproving."
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'Thoughts as Light as a Feather' by Somewhat Disinterested. Taylor basically gets Simurgh Lite powers and proceeds to eventually have some fun with them and cause some mischief. Very good. The larger conflict is mostly handwaved away but it works. Hosted on SB. Also, it's complete!


	12. Turbulence 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! I did borrow some ideas from people in this and I greatly appreciate the comments so keep them coming, you never know when your idea might spark something! Though the thing with Parian at least had been planned for awhile, there was never really a good place to put it before…

**Turbulence 03**

I let my eyes close as I walked down the street towards the Boardwalk next to Madison. The sun was shining, the temperature was beautiful, I was avoiding Winslow, all in all, it really would've been a perfect day. If not for the minor detail that we were planning to hijack a Birdcage prisoner transport tomorrow. That threw a bit of a pallor onto things. And then there was the fact that my team wouldn't shut up about our job from last night too.

"You know, you could just admit that we were doing the thing for your dad," Madison prompted softly. There was no one around but us and the seagulls as we walked, the Boat Graveyard to our side and the Boardwalk ahead. Ostensibly I was trying to find Dinah and get new bugs. Realistically, I was fairly certain that everyone had conspired to have Madison distract me.

Hell of job, she was doing annoying me like this. "We weren't being paid by him so we weren't working for him," I ground out through gritted teeth.

"Okay, so we were _manipulated_ by him. Bit of a difference, same result. And if you want to get _really_ technical, we were paid with Lisa soooo…"

"I am not discussing this anymore." I shook my head and keep my gaze resolutely forward as Madison sighed. Just because she was correct didn't mean I was going to give her the satisfaction of knowing I acknowledged that. "Do you agree with the name that Lisa chose?"

"Subtle, Taylor. Very subtle."

I shrugged. "I try."

She snorted and I didn't have to use my bugs to know she was smiling at me. "Honestly, I'd vote for Swarm but I'm betting you refer to your main grouping of bugs as that so it would probably get confusing to name your team after your bugs. We could always go with the Outcasts or the Runaways but I'm not sure that sets the right sort of tone."

"I actually kind of like those options," I replied as my bugs started to reach the edges of Coil's base and slip through his defenses. "It doesn't really describe what we do or our powers, but it does describe _us_ to a degree."

"Exactly." She shrugged. "Creationists is mostly about Amy and being creative in general, which we are. It's also rather ironic since she calls herself Darwin but 'creates' new things. I mean Lisa's idea does work because it's amusing at least...but it's really up to you."

"I'm still annoyed she didn't tell me before telling Armsmaster." I'd finished infiltrating the top level of his base. Nothing but storage rooms there. As we walked closer I was able to get better penetration. It was slow going since I had to keep manual control of all the bugs rather than set clusters. This was delicate work after all.

"You knew she likes to troll, even before you asked her to join up. Queen size bed ring any bells?"

"Hardy har har." Dammit nothing interesting on the second level either. Training rooms for the troopers, a server bank, a food court, some barracks…no Dinah.

"Oh I forgot, Crystal Pelham called while you were in the shower this morning. She said that Victoria would like to pass along a message to you, but only if you are willing to hear her out. She doesn't want to impose if you don't want to listen."

I frowned. Did I want to hear anything Glory Girl has to say? She had almost killed me after all. Yet…she had been fairly nice at first when I was just starting out, even if she seemed like a ditzy airhead, and she was Amy's sister. "I'll send her a note that Victoria can contact me."

Ah this third level was far more interesting. Small rooms for individual soldiers, the Travelers in one section, a giant vault with a monster girl in it - wait that was just all sorts of wrong. What the hell was that thing?! And why was the guy with the top hat just sitting there and chatting with it? It was big enough to squash him like a mosquito! It looked like some mad scientist's concept of Frankenstein, after drinking too much, while high on LSD!

"Okay, Mads, make a note, when we move tomorrow, we don't hurt the Travelers too much. Or at all. Let's go with at all if it can be avoided."

"Okay. Why?" she asked sounding like she was halfway between a laugh and a sigh.

"Apparently they have a pet monster. Don't ask, I don't understand it either."

She just frowned at me but dutifully made a note in a little flip book she pulled from her purse. Good little minion. "Any sign of Dinah?"

Sighing, I shook my head and started to pull the bugs out of the secret lair. While they moved back outside we continued on towards our 'shopping trip'. Such great fun…

"She's not in the base. A few mercs, there's some files on Boston capes that it looks like he might be trying to recruit, and obviously the Travelers plus monster. But no Dinah. We'll have to keep looking. I know of a building downtown where he might have her. We can check there either tomorrow afternoon or the next day depending on how things go."

Madison nodded. "Okay. You should take Amy when you go and search that one. She's been staying inside too much."

"Agreed." I grimaced as we stepped into the Boardwalk proper and the crowd materialized around us as if by magic. "Do we have to be here?"

"You need more clothes! And Parian's shop is close to here anyway. We do some quick shopping then we go talk to her." She was actually scolding me. How did my life come to this?!

"But I hate crowds and I hate people and I hate _shopping_. It's basically evil incarnate." Now I was just whining.

"I promise I will make you look cute without being annoying about it and we will only hit two or three stores, then we can grab lunch. Deal?" She asked grinning at me. My deadpan look must have warned her I wasn't convinced, so she went in for the kill. "You know that if Lisa or Amy were here they'd be dressing you up for half the day."

"I hate you," I groaned finally letting her laugh as she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the closest shop.

I hated shopping.

* * *

Thankfully Madison was true to her word and the shopping trip only last for about two hours. I could deal with that, especially as I really did need the new stuff. There was only so often you could wear the same four outfits.

Lunch was a quick burger grab from Fugly Bobs, then we headed over to talk with Parian. The puppet show she put on was pretty awesome. The girl could earn serious money doing just that. We waited until most of the kids and their moms or dads had gone up to Parian, shaking her hand and thanking her before we made our way to her as well. I had put on a small domino mask, though I was increasingly starting to wonder why I even bothered anymore. Madison was wearing one as well. I found it cute my minion wanted to match.

"Hello, that show was really good," I said making sure to smile as I stepped up to her to shake her hand as well.

"Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Her doll mask and curls were very Victorian-esque. She was also very short. Madison levels of short. I practically towered over the girl. I tried to stop my cringe; hopefully I wasn't too intimidating just by virtue of being an unknown cape and over half a foot taller than her.

"We did. Honestly, if you weren't running a shop, you could probably make your living doing that."

"While tempting, the shop helps my career as well," Parian replied nodding her head. "Was there anything else…?"

This time I did grimace. God I was bad at this. I opened my mouth to try to salvage the situation and my mind blanked on how to approach this without seeming like I was recruiting her for something.

Thankfully, Madison came to my rescue. Go minion! "Yes, although it can wait until everyone else is done and you have a few minutes. We have a small trade offer we'd like to propose to you that could help you with your shop and maybe help our team with getting more funds. My friend is concerned that she is draining my resources and our new teammate isn't going to have unlimited funds for much longer so we need other income sources."

Parian cocked her head to the side and looked between Madison and me. "If you're trying to recruit me for the Empire that's the oddest pitch I've ever received."

"We're definitely not," I replied shaking my head and doing my best to keep the annoyance out of my voice at the mention of the local Nazis. "Those guys are a blight on this city. We're not looking to recruit you for anything, we just think we have something you might be interested in buying. We're still discussing names for our team, but you've probably seen us around. I can tell you more when there are less people."

She slowly nodded. "Give me five minutes." Madison and I agreed and moved off to the side as she finished up and packed up her things. As she grabbed the box with her dolls, she waved us both into the store ahead of her. Once it was closed she set the box down and took out three stools for us to all to use as we talked. "So, you were talking about a trade? Before we get into details I need to know who you are associated with."

"Of course," I said. Holding out my hand, I smiled as she shook it. Her grip was stronger than she looked. "My name is Queen, this is Watchtower. Our teammates are Darwin and Insight."

"Oh," Parian murmured soft enough that it was almost involuntary. "The bug girl! _That's_ what you meant. You guys are Vigilantes right, Independants?"

"Yeah. No gang relations and no PRT connections," Madison replied.

"Well that changes things then! We can do business now," Parian said clapped her hands. "It's so _hard_ to find other unaffiliated people in this city. It was basically just me and Circus, but then Circus got run out of town, and I keep getting recruitment offers from the Empire almost every other day. One of these days, they're going to stop being nice about it and I have no idea what I'm going to do then."

"Well I can't make any promises, since you're a bit beyond where I can conveniently keep an eye out, but Watchtower here can probably set something up to at least give you an early warning if there looks to be some E88 goons headed your way."

"You can do that?" Parian asked leaning forward. The eagerness in her voice tugged at my heartstrings. God I was going to end up adopting another one if I wasn't careful.

Madison frowned and stuck her tongue out between her teeth partially as her face scrunched up in thought and seemed to tick off a few things in midair. "I…yes, I think so. It would be rudimentary for a while and I'd have to teach it what the gang members look like first so…figure two weeks until it's up and running? Maybe three if they don't wear their colors? Do you get ABB people here too?"

"No. They don't think I _sound_ Asian. Idiots. Idiots the lot of them. I don't know how I sound _white_ either."

Snorting I waved to her hair. "You have Victorian curls in blonde hair and your costume hides your skin tone. Nobody said neo-Nazis were smart."

"_Kaiser_ is smart, Queen. It's just his grunts that are dumb," Madison replied sighing.

"Yes, minion."

"I'll tell Insight on you. Or worse, I will set Darwin on you."

I twisted and stared at her with wide eyes. "You wouldn't!"

"Don't underestimate the Nazis!"

I sagged and nodded my head in defeat. "Yes, minion."

"Much better!"

Parian chuckled. "I can't tell you how nice it is to interact with people who aren't Nazis for once. So what was that trade offer you had in mind? And how much am I going to owe you for the security setup?"

"Oh right we actually had a reason for being here." I shook my head, mentally slapping myself. "Security is free of charge, unless Watchtower wants to charge you for her time."

Madison shrugged. "I mean, it's just coding. It's not that hard to tell the cameras to flip an alert to a system if a set parameter is met. I just need to tie the whole thing together. It's teaching it the right parameters that's harder, but even then…Say $100 just so that you can claim it wasn't for free if someone asks and I can honestly say I was paid for it?"

"You're just giving that away like that?"

"They're Nazis," Madison deadpanned. "Why would I charge stupid fees for what amounts to my hobby when it's being used for protection against racist assholes?"

"So it's not your power? Coding, tinkering, that sort of thing?"

Madison grimaced. "Um, I don't really, um, I'm just here because Queen is. I help out where I can."

I slapped a hand on my face. "Seriously? You go to the effort of getting a mask and everything…"

Parian waved her hands in front of her and quickly brushed aside any protest that Madison might have made. "No, no it's cool I get it. But be careful with that stuff because people can use it against you. So before I hear anything else I shouldn't, are you looking to sell me fabric or costumes?"

"Silk actually," I commented sighing and shaking my head at Madison's blush. "I can make bulk batches of spider silk cloth. After the modifications Darwin has made, it's significantly better than Kevlar for strength, and keeps it's lightweight nature. If you actually want to make armor with it, I can provide even thicker cloth. Both should be better quality than basically anything in it's price range, and you'll be buying it direct from the manufacturer, too."

Parian leaned back crossing her arms. "That would…significantly improve the quality of the items I make."

"That's what we were thinking," I said.

"How much can you make? Let's say I want a bolt 60 inches by 50 feet in the thinner silk. How quick can you make something like that, and how much would it cost?"

I pulled out my phone did some quick math based on the silk production spiders Amy had made. I'd probably need her to make me a few more to increase production at first, but even without her, that sort of thing was incredibly simple. "Right now, it would probably take me about half a day. Give me three days and I can likely half that. Three more and I can get you a bolt every hour…probably."

Parian whistled. "Now that sort of production is impressive for spiders. Is your silk able to be dyed?"

"Yes, though if you want us to pre-dye it for you I can do that too; for an extra charge. I could actually make it _already_ the correct color without having to technically be a dye, just the silk itself would be colored when it comes out of the spider." I hadn't believed Amy could do that until she made one of my spiders spin a green web. She'd been bragging about that all morning.

"As for cost…my only limitations are how much food I can provide the spiders. Though obviously I need to make a profit otherwise there's not much point to this. I'm not offering to simply supply your customers for nothing."

Parian set her hands on her knees and nodded. "Let's talk numbers…"

* * *

We left Parian's shop late enough that school was probably over so I figured it was only polite to walk Madison home. She had skipped to hang out with me after all. Not that she really attended any more often than I did but…

We really needed to get our GEDs or something.

"Taylor, I really enjoyed spending the day with you," Madison said as her house came into sight around the corner.

I shrugged. "It was actually kind of fun on my end too. It's been awhile since I just had a girls day out. I'll admit, if you had asked me a few weeks back, I would have said in a heartbeat that I never saw this 'being friends' thing working out."

"Thanks for giving me a chance."

"Thanks for actually _being_ a friend," I replied back giving her a one-armed hug and earning myself a beaming smile in return.

As we walked up to her door, I frowned at the nice car parked in the driveway. It looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it. It also looked a bit too expensive for Madison's parents to own. "Hey, were you guys expecting anyone?"

Madison shook her head and twisted slightly to follow my gaze as she turned her key in the lock. The door clicked open just as the blood drained from her face. "Oh no…"

Before I had a chance to ask what was going on or call up a mini-cluster to investigate the interior, raised voices from inside drifted to my ears.

"Alan, for the last time, _we_ are her parents and _we_ are the ones who get to say if her behavior is worrying!"

"Emma says she's never at school! Don't you, Emma?"

"As I have _told you_, Madison was ill. She is recovering and is now spending time with friends. This is none of your business!"

"When it affects my daughter it becomes my business, Emmett!"

My lip curled into a snarl. Oh so now he cares about other people's kids? _Now_?!

Wait. "Your parents know you're not going to class?" I asked looking at Madison with narrowed eyes.

She nodded, her hand frozen on the partially open door. "It's not like I can hide it. They know I'm spending time with you. I didn't give them the other girls' names."

I could feel the swarm moving towards me and I shifted some of my anger into it in order to better deal with the situation. I wasn't mad at Madison and she didn't deserve to have her head snapped off for being honest with her parents. "Well as the only one with a functioning relationship with her folks, I'm not going to berate you for that at all. Just make sure to keep the others anonymous and we're all cool."

"Of course," she said still not moving. "You should go."

"Dad, can we just go…She's not here…"

Emma was here. Emma was here and not in prison. Emma was here in my friend's house. Emma was here after trying to _fucking kill me_!

"No. No I don't think I will," I replied, my voice devoid of all inflection. I pulled my anger back from swarm. I wanted to be fully myself for this. Then I reached past Madison and pushed the door open all the way. It banged against the wall and I strode inside, all smiles. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Clements! Mads managed to drag me to enough stores that we successfully completed our mission this afternoon, so I recommend extra helpings of dessert for her. I feel like a Barbie doll with how much I got dressed up today. Oh. It's you. Hello Emma."

The temperature in the room plummeted to single digits as the redhead and I glared at each other from opposite sides of the living room. Madison came in behind me, a bit of terror still showing on her tight features. The three adults all looked and stared at us two newcomers. Madison set her bags in the corner while I just continued to stare at Emma.

"You," she muttered lifting a shaking finger to point at me. "You can't be here."

"This is my friend's house so, yeah, actually, I can."

"She's _my_ friend!" Emma spat, her voice growing shrill.

I borrowed Lisa's smile as I looked at Emma. "You sure about that? When's the last time you two interacted, Emma?"

"Taylor…" Madison murmured placing her hand on my arm and trying to gently pull me back.

Emma sneered at me. "She stopped coming to school. What the hell was I supposed to do? Chase after her?"

I scowled and stepped forward, throwing off Madison's arm in the process and moving to within a foot of Emma. "You look out for the people you care about Emma. You check on them. You call them. You ask them how they are. That's what friends _do_! That's what strong, intelligent people do when their loved ones are hurting you bitch!"

Emma reeled back like I'd struck her. She shook her head back and forth hard enough to whip her hair across her face. "I am strong! _You're_ weak! You're _both _weak! I survived. I stayed at school. I stayed and neither of you did! I stayed and you left; I'm strong and you're weak!"

Alan stood and moved between us pushing me back with an extended arm while shouting at me to get away from his daughter. The Clements stood as well and started shouting. I ignored everyone and just laughed, my eyes focused only on Emma while the bugs in my swarm pulled ever closer to the house. "You're strong Emma? Hiding behind Daddy makes you strong huh? How much did he have to pay to keep you out of juvie? How about it, Alan? Did you go crying to Carol Dallon and beg her for an advance to cover the bribes? Attempted murder must cost a _ton_ to bury these days."

The Clements both sucked in a breath staring between me, Emma, and Alan. Emma was shaking with her arms wrapped around herself. Madison was tugging on my arm again. For his part, Alan looked ready to explode as he said, "We don't have to listen to this vitriol and these baseless accusations! Stay away from my daughter or I will - "

"You'll do what?" I asked turning my cat's grin on him. "Sic your divorce lawyer chops on me? Oh I'm so scared. Maybe you think you can get Carol involved?! Go ahead. I'll call her daughter, _both_ of them, and one way or another she'll back off before the day is out."

"What did you do to Sophia?" Emma whispered cutting through whatever rebuttal Alan was going to rage as well as the shout from Madison's dad that seemed to be waiting to burst.

Twisting to face Emma I just shrugged and my grin widened. "I just told the truth. That you two tried to kill me. Amazing what talking to the right authorities will get you!"

"Three," her reply silenced all the angry shouting from the adults and Madison's hands went limp on my arm.

"Sorry quite didn't hear that, Emma." I cupped my hand over my ear for added effect and I let Lisa's grin dissipate as my own shark's smile spread in its place. Oh, if only I had a recorder on me.

"Three of us," Emma said her arms tightening around herself and her eyes locked on my stomach. "All three of us. You can't just blame Sophia and I when Madison was just as involved."

Madison's hand dropped entirely from me and I heard a sniffle behind me. I didn't need my bugsense to know she was turning away. Before she could move a single step, I shot my hand out and gripped hers, pulling her up beside me. "See, here's the thing though, Em," I said, dropping my own voice down to a level that the others would have to strain to hear and using my old nickname for her from when we were kids just to twist the knife a little deeper. "Madison _didn't_ have anything to do with the locker, she actually had a nervous breakdown when she found out about it. She stopped going to school because she couldn't deal with being associated with the two of you anymore and thought that she actually _had_ killed me. She's done everything she can to apologize, and I've forgiven her for her part in things before that. _You,_ on the other hand, along with that _bitch,_ didn't even wait _one fucking day_ when I came back to start hurting me again. _One goddamn fucking day Em_."

I stepped forward and Alan moved backwards pushing Emma back a step as well. "We were best friends. You helped me when my mom died. Then you tried to fucking kill me, and would've succeeded if Panacea hadn't saved my life. When I had the audacity to not only survive, but come back instead of transfer, because Winslow is corrupt as _fuck_, you _keep attacking me_. You should be thanking me that I only got Sophia sent to jail. I could've done so much worse."

"Taylor," Madison murmured. She wrapped her arms around my waist this time and tried to physically lift me backwards. For a second I wondered why she changed tactics. Then I checked my surroundings and found the swarm waiting outside. Not quite all of them, but enough that a good portion of the house along with some of the street was covered in bugs and the windows were darkened by their bodies. "Taylor, that's enough."

Why not? I'd had my fun with Emma. With a thought I had the swarm disperse enough that they weren't obvious about their grouping. All stayed close enough to call at a moment's notice. The room got a bit brighter as the bugs left the window. Madison eased up a bit on her tugging, but I let her haul me backwards a few steps anyway.

"You Mastered her." I blinked at that declaration, having to look around the room before I was able to link the words with the broken, despondent voice of Emma. What the fuck was this new crazy now?

"I'm sorry, _what_? Are you legitimately insane?" I asked.

This was apparently one step too far for Mr. Clements who it seemed had had just about enough. "Madison is not Mastered! If you are going to make wild accusations against our daughter's friend you can get right the hell out of our home!"

"Do not yell at my daughter, Emmett!"

"If you don't want me to shout at her then get your little attempted murderer out of my house!"

Emma just shook her head again and sank to her knees looking at Madison's arms still wrapped around my waist. "She never cared about you before. She never cared about…She didn't care about anything. She was just…she was there. She was a follower, a groupie, weak. We were strong and she followed behind us. She wouldn't go to someone like you unless…unless you were controlling her. You couldn't beat Sophia…you couldn't without controlling her either. You must be a Master. You _have_ to be. It's…it's the only thing that…it's all that makes sense." Emma dropped her gaze to the floor. "You have to have powers. It makes sense. You're controlling her. I'm strong. She wouldn't leave me. Neither of them would leave me…"

I just snorted and stepped backwards hearing a soft _oomph_ from Madison as I deliberately smashed my back against her. "You really are messed up, Emma. Madison is playing on my team now. Get over it and unfuck yourself, or have Daddy unfuck you since he does _sooo_ well getting you out of bad situations."

Alan glared at me with his lips pulled away from his teeth in a matter not that far off from a dog threatening a challenger. Mr. Clements stepped between us with his fists clenched. "I believe I told you to leave my house, Alan." His voice was low but no less dangerous. Aww, Madison did come from good folk!

Alan got his arms under Emma, levered her to her feet and practically dragged her to the front door shoving Mr. Clements and me to the side with his shoulder as he passed us both. I just waved goodbye to him. He nearly kicked the door open after he got it unlocked too, petty asshole that he was.

Then he just had to have the last word. Turning to me, he looked me dead in the eyes while holding Emma up and flashed a triumphant little smirk at me. "You realize of course that we're going to have to report you to the PRT for being a suspected human Master."

I don't know what did it. Maybe it was what he said. Maybe it was the smirk. Maybe it was just that I had refused to offload any of my emotions to deal with this situation like I had in the past. Maybe it was because I was running high and fast and this was just the last straw. Whatever it was, it was enough.

Madison felt it the moment I snapped. She squeezed my chest and shook her head. "Taylor don't! Stop!"

"Everyone else already knows," I replied, my voice taking on a manic edge. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. Possibly - probably - both. "Who're they gonna tell?"

"Taylor, please!"

"Let go, Madison."

"No!"

"Suit yourself." I called my swarm. Mrs. Clements screamed as thousands of bugs flew through the open door, the windows, and the seams in the house. They came at my call and they came to me. My head felt like it was going to explode from the pain, but I ignored it. This was important and I was not going to miss it because of a fucking headache. Most of the swarm settled onto me, making me look more like Hive than like a human. They also settled over Madison, encasing the parts of her in contact with me as well, which was pretty much all of her except her left leg and head.

The room was deathly quiet except for the soft whisper of breathing. No one moved since they were all completely surrounded by bugs nearly an inch deep. Emma's mouth had fallen open and she looked like she was hyperventilating as she stared at me while Alan had gone white as a sheet. Mr. Clements had his eyes closed and his head hung down to his chest. Huh, guess he had suspected something before; clever man.

"You're partially right, Alan, Emma," I said, speaking both through my mouth and some of the bugs to my left. Alan jerked, staring at the bugs to that side before looking back at me. "I am a Master." This time I used the bugs solely from the right side of me to speak. "I control bugs though, not people." This time I used the ones directly between me and the Barnes. They flinched back towards the door.

"Th-the PRT will - " Alan managed to stutter out.

I laughed and most of the swarm laughed with me. Mr. Clements grimaced and his wife cringed in on herself while Madison squeezed me tighter. "The PRT already knows about me! I stopped going to school after I got my powers because I was worried that if I stayed in the same place as the Trio, I'd kill them. I was back for one day and they were already going at me so I figured that it was a legit concern. The PRT has already congratulated me on my restraint! So please, by all means, call them Alan! Here, you can even use my phone!" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and held it out towards him having the bugs shift enough to leave a clear path between us, like Moses parting the Red Sea. "I don't have the Director's number yet, but I have Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Lady Photon on speed dial. I'm sure one of them has Piggot's number. Oh! Madison do you think Panacea would have Piggot's contact info? I still have her phone number too. You know, from when I was _dying_."

Alan just stared at my swarm-coated hand and the offered phone, his wide eyes coming back up to my bug-covered face. "You're insane…"

I snorted and shook my head. "Actually, no. I'm _pissed_. Your _daughter_ however _is,_ apparently insane. I have issues, sure. Most capes do to some degree. I'm still perfectly sane though and my friends help to smooth out the rough edges. What's Emma's excuse? You kept her out jail somehow Alan. Maybe you should try to keep her from tearing her own mind apart now too. Look at her, I think I broke her and I don't even have a talking power. Get the fuck out, stay the hell away from me and my friends, and get her help. I never want to see either of you assholes again."

Alan looked like he wanted to say something else but a soft sob from Emma and a rattle of the wings of all the assembled bugs changed his mind real quick. One last token glare at me later, he was nearly running out the door. I waited until I heard his car start and for it to peal out of the driveway. Once it was gone, I took a deep breath, held it for the count of three, and then as I breathed out, I had the swarm leave the Clements house.

As the last of my critters vanished into the neighborhood, I groaned and held a hand to my head, the pounding behind my temples finally catching up to me. Grimacing, I looked up at Mr. Clements as he arched his eyebrows at me. I tried to smile at him, "Um, hi, Sir. I'm Taylor. You wouldn't happen to have some aspirin would you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'A Finely Honed Blade' by ensou. A fic hosted on Fanfic, Ao3, and Sufficient Velocity, the latter has a bit of information stuff on it regarding how QA is interacting with things. Basically, this is a bit of a crossover with Worm and Kara no Kyoukai where Taylor ends up getting both an extremely subtle emotional Master version of QA along with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. And becomes almost more OP than Shiki. It is AWESOME even if Taylor fights against her own power for too long before embracing it and going hogwild. It's been awhile since an update but ensou has a bit of a habit with switching between fics so it should be updated eventually when they get back around to it!


	13. Interlude 3.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Extra-long chapter today, basically twice as long as normal. As a foreword here, I would like to remind everyone that we are all the heroes of our own story…

**Interlude 3.x**

She was gone. She was dead. She was never coming back and there was nothing he could do about it. Taylor was lost in her own grief and he was going to be of no help to his daughter in his state. All he could think of was revenge. Revenge on the drunk that had killed her. Revenge on the city that had let her die. Revenge on the system that had let the driver back behind the wheel. Revenge on the hospital that couldn't heal her with parahuman powers because of _liability_ and _legality_.

The 'heroes' had wrung their hands and said kind words then showed him the door. The lawyers said there was nothing they could do, it was endemic to the system. The villains he'd approached said to come back with more money.

There had to be another way to get his revenge. There had to be another path through the pain.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Hebert. I believe you have been looking for us." The woman wore a starched white lab coat that only served to call attention to her very dark skin. It was definitely a good thing that he'd suggested the Boat Graveyard to meet. The Empire didn't have much of a presence here and they would not take well to this woman at all. A smart black woman who seemed well off? Clearly she stole from the 'oppressed' whites. DEATH!

His blood boiled just thinking of those racist Nazi subhumans. And he'd been desperate enough to go and beg at their feet just a few weeks ago…Never again. Not now, not ever. He'd be strong now and able to fight on his own. He could get his own revenge and then he could fix this city. Nobody would ever have to live through what he had ever again.

"Yes. You're a hard person to find."

"That is intentional, Mr. Hebert." She flipped a page on her clipboard and frowned at him. "You understand that our product is not for just anyone."

"If it was we'd have a lot more problems in the world I think," Danny replied nodding.

The woman smiled slightly and inclined her head in return. "I agree. We seek a measure of stability and drive in our applicants. As well as some financial backing of course. Our organization does require funding to keep running after all."

He was ready for this. Steeling himself he replied, "How much are we talking?"

"Well it varies by what you are interested in. Level of strength, stability, and variety are all items that affect the bottom line. From your record, I would say probably close to…this." She handed him a small slip of paper and Danny grimaced.

"I'd have to mortgage my house and drain all of my daughter's college funds for this. Is there room to negotiate?"

"There is always room to negotiate." She replied shrugging. "For instance, if you agree to do a certain number of favors for us in the future, favors to be decided on later, we can greatly reduce the price. In addition we could always adjust one of the variables in the formula."

He shook his head. "I don't want to adjust the formula. I can deal with favors and a new mortgage. I just don't want to dip into my daughter's college money."

"Well, let's see what we can work out then shall we?"

* * *

"No, not that one," Danny grumbled as he pointed at the scratch off lottery tickets. "That one. I hate the little rose things. Reminds me of my wife. I need luck, give me the shamrocks; like I fucking told you before."

"Geez buddy, cool down. It's not like you're going to win anyway." The gas station attendant finally handed over the correct ticket and Danny was able to leave. He waited until he was in the car to actually make sure that his Sight had been right.

It was. $9,000, excellent seed money. A quick stop to claim it, and then he could get his first employee. Rocko was a decent enough guy in the Dockworkers Association but he was down on his luck and needed cash. He needed it bad enough that if Danny said the right things while talking to him, the man would easily agree to be a bodyguard and enforcer. While the idea of an enforcer was distasteful in the extreme, Danny needed muscle if he was going to get anywhere with cleaning up the city.

Plus, once he had Rocko behind him, together they could demolish a local Merchant warehouse. The drugs would be gone and he'd have $50,000.

He smiled. From nearly losing his house to $59,000 dollars in just shy of 6 hours. Not bad. Not bad at all.

* * *

"Boss, we've got reports back from Martin concerning Lung," Lemark said as he stepped up to the desk with his hands folded behind him.

Coil turned his chair around and steepled his fingers on the wood of his desk. Using just a brief flash of Sight he played through about five minutes of conversation. In the first version he just let Lemark finish his report. In the second he cut him off and preempted with educated guesses. In the third he switched to a different topic entirely. In the fourth he let Lemark start then stopped the report by the halfway point. Resisting the urge to sigh as he shut the Sight down, Coil clenched his fingers together tightly.

Paging through four different versions of the same conversation just so that he could preemptively know what his lieutenant was going to say and seem like he was omniscient may seem petty to most, but it had served him well over the past few months. A few minutes of wasted potential futures didn't really mean much against his limits and it cemented the loyalty of his people even further. Half of them weren't even being paid anymore - they just assumed he knew what he was doing and that by the time he was done he was going to be a better influence on this city than any of the other three gangs; and they wanted in on the ground floor.

They weren't wrong.

"Yes, Lung has the brothel house along East Windsor and he's running the human trafficking through the church on Slovinsky. I know."

Lemark nodded; he was too much of a professional to smile. "One of these days you gotta tell me how you do that boss."

"Perhaps." Unlikely. He let his hands drop to the desk and pulled a piece of paper in front of him gazing down at it through the blue mask over his eyes. Annette had always loved blue. Taylor actively avoided the color now. She actively avoided a lot now. When was the last time he had spoken to Taylor anyway? A week ago? No…two? Had it been that long. Well, he was busy. If she needed him, she'd say something. She had Emma after all. "I understand that Agent Peterson hasn't responded well to our offer of employment?"

Lemark grimaced. "No, he did not. You were right to have his girls in a safe house before we made the offer, Sir. I think that was the only reason he didn't call his superiors after we approached him."

"Is it more trouble than it's worth or do you think he'll come around when he sees how things work?"

"I don't like the idea of tying off loose ends when it comes to PRT agents, boss. That opens up a whole can of worms that I don't think we're ready for yet. Peterson has promise too. We just have to show him some progress. I think if you let me bring him in on a raid or two with some of the more PR friendly targets he'll be amenable soon enough. Death of a thousand cuts works both ways boss. You'd be surprised just how much someone can learn to accept the little compromises if they are packaged with larger good deeds."

Coil let out a chuckle at that. "Oh no, Lemark. I don't think I would be surprised at all. Keep an eye on him. Take him on the raid against Lung's people, then let him call in his official team for the credit. We'll check back in a week and if he's looking good we'll let his daughter go home but keep his wife for another two weeks just to make sure."

"Understood boss."

As Lemark left, Coil pulled out his notebook and made another check mark. His ledger had grown very red indeed since he'd started. Yes, he well understood acceptance of compromises.

And yet…It was necessary. He would destroy the gangs. He would tear down the system that let them flourish to begin with. Marquis had had the right of things. You let a few of the simpler crimes go, and you can keep a lid on the worst of people's vices. The man had been brutal, yet fair. Coil was following the same laws. When he made a deal, he followed through. When he made a threat, he followed through. Did innocents get caught in the crossfire at times? Of course, but that was the way of capes and cape battles. Sometimes people suffered.

It was all for the greater good of the city after all. And if he could prove it worked here…If he could go back to Doctor Mother and her ilk with his proof of concept it would all be worth it. All he needed to do was _prove_ that the best path to tread was one _strong_ villain who ruled the crime scene with an iron hand, yet was willing to cooperate, to an extent, with the local heroes. He needed to show his method was superior to a series of smaller gang lords and mob bosses or, even worse, chaotic rabble rousers running around destroying everything for the hell of it!

Gritting his teeth and hissing, Coil clenched his fist, slamming his hand onto the table. Chaos had killed Annette. Chaos had led to this. He would see order restored in Brockton Bay. Whether it wanted it or not.

* * *

The alarms blared and Coil lurched upright in his bed at the secondary base. Immediately he sank into the Sight.

-Run out the door. Turn right. Nothing down the hall. Gunshots. Dead.

-Run out the door. Turn left. People. Gunshots. Dead.

-Run out the door. Turn left. Drop into a slide under the gunshots. Scramble for cover. Goon dressed in ABB colors swings a sword. Dead.

-Grab a pillow. Run out the door. Turn left. Drop into a slide under the gunshots. Scramble for cover. Throw pillow at goon's face. Throw punch at his kneecap. Liberate sword…Oni Lee. _Boom_! Dead.

…

It took him 56 tries to find something that worked. It would've been much easier if he had let any of the men stay behind with him, but this fight had always been coming. Lung was always going to test him now that he was on the scene, especially after he'd made it clear the forced prostitution and human trafficking was going to be met with harsh pushback. He needed a show of force. Giving Oni Lee a new scar, killing over a dozen of Lung's people inside an obviously abandoned base, and calmly walking out completely unscathed would give him a lot of street credit and show off how he had access to highly detailed information well in advance of his enemies' movements. He needed that to be taken seriously.

Now, when he called Lung in an hour, he'd be calling from a position of demonstrated strength and be able to demand reparations. It was one small step, but it was a step certainly worth the loss of a single rundown building.

* * *

"Boss," Lemark pushed the door open to his office and strode in a frown etched on his face.

Coil shook his head and set his cup down. "Coffee is sacred Kevin. Especially if it's afternoon coffee. This had better be important, I'm busy."

"You need to hear this."

He considered flipping through a few minutes of the conversation to see what it was about, but he had already used nearly five and a half hours this morning to make sure that the op against the Empire when well. He didn't really want to use up any of the remaining time left on his power if he could avoid it. Not for something stupid.

"I'm listening."

"Take your mask off first, Danny."

Coil frowned. What the hell was this about? Kevin Lemark had always been very careful to keep the two personas separate after Danny had trusted him with his secret identity. If he was asking him to take his mask off now…Slowly his reached up and removed the blue masquerade mask setting it on the table beside him. "Should I be taking off my tailored suit as well, Kevin?" he asked cupping a hand around the coffee mug.

"The suit isn't recognizable. I asked you to take the mask off for two reasons. One, I'm fairly certain you're about to storm outside and I don't want you forgetting to remove it in a fit of rage. Two, you should be acting as Danny, not as Coil."

"What news do you have?"

Kevin sat down and held out a legal pad with a hastily scrawled message on it. "You technically don't have a registered cell phone as Danny Hebert. This message was left on your home phone. I double checked. It's real."

_Mr. Hebert, this is Nurse Greta from Brockton Memorial Hospital. We need you to contact us as soon as you get this message. There was an incident involving your daughter earlier today. She is badly injured and we need to speak with you immediately concerning her treatment. Our number is…_

His hands shook as he stared at the paper and the coffee in his mug splashed over the side onto his hand. Reading over the message for a third time, he lifted his eyes to meet Kevin's. "What. Happened?"

"Kids at her school did something. I don't have details. Only thing I could get for sure was that someone named Sophia Hess was involved and that Taylor was brought out on a stretcher, catatonic, covered in filth, with bugs coating most of her lower extremities. The hospital is worried she's not going to make it."

The cup shattered. "Sophia Hess. That's a name I know. Why do I know that name Kevin?"

"She avoided juvie by cutting a deal with the Protectorate and the PRT. She's a Ward; goes by Shadow Stalker. We tried to recruit her for a few minutes back when she was still just a vigilante, but you waved us off mid-op. Said she was a psychopath and you didn't want her on the team. You have a file on her from Peterson in the bottom left drawer. Psych profile from Yamada seems to fit your read on the situation from back then."

He drew in one shaky breath, held it for a moment and let it out as slow as he could. He refused to use the Sight. If Taylor was hurt, he would need it when he got to the hospital. "Get men ready. If my daughter dies, Sophia Hess dies as well. Painfully, slowly, and begging for it stop as the life leaves her eyes."

"It'll probably expose you…"

"I really don't care. And it wouldn't even have to. Have the moles in the Empire kidnap her. Bring her to one of 'their' safe houses, tell me where, and we frame it like it's an E88 hit. Set the gang and Protectorate against each other in earnest while we destroy both."

"Thought you wanted to work _with_ the Protectorate eventually, Danny." Kevin knew him well enough by now not to get between him and his goals, but Danny could appreciate the effort of at least attempting to talk him out of this.

"If they would shelter the person that killed my daughter, they will all die."

Kevin shut his eyes and nodded once. "Go to the hospital. At the very least, you should see her. I'll get things ready, but we'll wait on your go ahead before we move. Promise me you will wait to see if she survives? I don't think we can survive an all out war. I will go to war if you ask it, because I believe in what we're doing and I believe you can ultimately get at least some of us through it. But I don't think it will end well."

"I can wait to see if she'll survive," Danny said standing and starting to move out from behind his desk. "If she doesn't…I make no promises."

As his hand fell on the doorknob Kevin asked one final question. One that cut him through to his very soul. "Danny, before you make any final decisions, no matter what happens with Taylor, can you tell me one thing? Can you tell me when was the last time you said anything to her beyond 'hello' or 'goodbye'?"

"She's my daughter, Kevin."

"I don't really know if she is anymore, Danny," Kevin replied softly. "I don't think she has been for a long time now. Go to her. Just…please remember what I said. We have a real shot at changing the city for the better now. Don't throw everything away because of someone who you barely even seem to think about anymore."

* * *

There was a new cape on the scene. A new cape that controlled all manner of bugs, range unknown, level of control unknown. They could be a powerful reconnaissance member of his team if they could see through the bugs and he could get them onboard. They'd pair well with Tattletale too. Maybe not the Undersiders as a whole, not unless he could maneuver Bitch correctly. Getting that ticking time bomb of rage to simmer down was a nightmare and a half on any given day, and worse whenever he tried to add a new member to their group. He'd lost Spitfire when he let go of modeling the negotiations in realtime on that one. And he'd had to do that since, apparently, he'd nearly given Tattletale an embolism the last time he'd actively used his power with her on the other end of the line. Why the little annoying bitch had such a bad reaction to his Sight he had no idea, but it was starting to seriously annoy him.

How useful could the group be if she couldn't even be on the fucking phone with him when he was trying to tell them what to do to save their asses from a screwup?

Maybe he should just ditch the entire team. Or maybe just Tattletale. Grue was still useful and the leverage with his sister was ironclad. Regent was an ace-in-the-hole should he ever need to use it. Bitch was…a sacrificial lamb if it was needed. He hated to use the girl like that, but sometimes dropping a pawn saved the rook or the queen and it could lead the enemy king into checkmate. The pawn may not enjoy it, but that was the way the game worked.

And while Tattletale's power definitely made her more of a bishop, she was a loose canon at best, and an active saboteur at worst. That was what he got for recruiting someone at gunpoint. The carrot was so much better. He'd learned his lesson with Grue and Regent. And yet…Tattletale just _insisted_ on _pissing him off_! He was seriously getting tempted to just start using little fits and bursts of his power to give her migraines every time he talked to her from now on. Just to spite the bitch.

"Boss," Lemark walked into the room with a grimace on his face as he firmly shut the door behind him. "We've got a…possibly a problem. An issue. Let's go with that."

Coil rubbed what little of his temple was exposed by his mask and waved Lemark on. "Got word back on that PRT meeting from early this morning. The one where Miss Militia talked to the bug girl."

"And…?"

"Turns out it's a construct."

"Are you seriously going to make me ask every single goddamn question?" Coil dropped his hand and glared at his lieutenant.

Lemark flinched and dropped into a chair. "Word of warning, this is not _entirely_ certain. Figure this stuff is about 90%. But…it's Taylor. The cape is Taylor."

He blinked and stared at his man. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. Say that again? Because it sounds like you just said _my daughter_ is a _fucking cape_."

"Yeah, because I did."

The words that left Danny's mouth then probably would have left a drunken sailor blushing as he ranted for a good five minutes straight. Finally running out of curses and his throat growing hoarse he turned on Lemark with scowl. "How. Long?"

"Best the PRT could figure? The locker thing. They're also fairly certain she can hear and see through her bugs. And that she knew about Sophia's identity as a Ward too by the time she quit school. That's how they figured out who she is. She set them on the girl."

Danny started to curse again but the words froze in his throat as he frowned and his hand slowly lowered to the table. "Taylor quit school? When did this happen?"

Kevin set his gun down and shook his head. "I told you this two months ago. She's gone maybe a week total since January, man. Less I think, but I'd have to check to be sure."

"How is she getting her education?"

"Fuck if I know!" Kevin shouted throwing his hands up into the air. "She could be going out, getting laid, then getting paid by having her rich boyfriend tutor her for all I know about how your daughter spends her free time. You _live_ with her. You'd have a better chance of knowing than I would. Take a morning, burn an hour's worth of your precog and run through different ways of asking her how she studies! It's not that hard!"

Danny scowled and waving a finger in Kevin's direction as his eyes narrowed. "Watch it."

"No, you need to hear this. Your 'little girl' has been a secret cape for months. How long have you been taking shit home with you, boss? How many phone calls have you made from home? How many times have you talked to me or the capes you back? Taylor controls little unassuming bugs and she - "

"Can hear through them…" Danny finished with a groan. "Fuck."

"Yeah."

"I need to get ahead of this. I need to get home. Pretend to be a nice family man and give my daughter a call."

"Play nice; remember, carrot works well, Danny. Also, she has Panacea with her now."

He froze and stared at the man. "She has who now?"

"I have no idea how it happened. Nobody does. I'm going with your daughter is magic. She survives when she shouldn't. She ghosts through the world when people should clearly notice her. And now, apparently, she can recruit the notoriously impossible to work with, hates everything and everyone, Amy Dallon. Taylor is fucking magic."

Danny groaned and set his mask aside so he could more easily rub his temples. "Fucking hell. This is going to use nearly everything I have to tiptoe through this single conversation without setting her off. Taylor has nearly as bad a temper as I do."

"Yeah. Good luck. Wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

* * *

"Hello Dinah," Coil said with a genuine smile as he walked into the girl's room and sat down on the armchair. Sundancer had started playing another board game with her on the table nearby. It was rare to not see the Traveler spending time with the girl nowadays, playing board games or singing karaoke, but Dinah seemed to enjoy playing Yahtzee and Monopoly the best. Two games at such odds with each other too…There was probably some deep philosophical meaning in there somewhere.

"Hi, Mr. C.," Dinah chirped, her tongue between her lips and her eyes firmly on the board. "I'll sell you my Boardwalk and the Purple for your Green."

"I just know know this is going to bite me in the butt," Sundancer muttered handing over her card and taking Dinah's with something approaching reverence. "But I never get a Monopoly on Boardwalk."

"You won't get to enjoy it for long."

"I know, you always win, and you don't even cheat…It's not fair." Sundancer sighed hanging her head in mock exhaustion. Dinah just laughed.

"Hey, Mr. C. I keep forgetting to ask, where did you come up with your name? Seems kinda random."

Coil shrugged as he watched Dinah move her piece and pass the dice back over to Sundancer. "The Latin origin relates back to 'bring together'. It seemed appropriate when I was starting out since I was trying to unite the criminal elements of the city under one banner. Hence the sigma on my people's uniforms."

Dinah looked over at him and quirked her mouth to the side. She held out her hand for the rent money from Sundancer who passed it over with a suffering sigh. "Hmm, that's supposed to be a sigma? Looks like a snake."

Coil goggled at her, huffing, "It most certainly does _not_ look like a _snake_. My wife was an English professor. I know how to design a Latin sigma."

Dinah blinked rapidly for a few seconds and her gaze unfocused. Then she shook her head and smirked at him. "78.472% chance it's more easily recognizable if you change the color scheme to gold on black."

Coil leaned back grumbling under his breath. "Fine," he finally replied. "I'll have the men change the uniforms' color around."

"Awesome! You should also have all the cars you own have license plates that start with 'E'."

"And what does that help accomplish?"

Dinah shrugged. "Oh nothing. I just thought that since the ABB get to wear their colors, and the E88 get to wear _their_ colors, we should at least get to drive cars with our symbol."

Sundancer shook her head. "You're really taking to this far too easily Dinah."

"Why wouldn't I?" She asked rolling the dice and moving her piece smirking as she landed on Free Parking, collecting the money there. "I don't have to worry about the girls at school calling me names anymore, I get to wear cool clothes, the cable is leagues better than it was at home, plus the tutors are actually teaching me new things instead of the boring stuff that I had to deal with at regular school. And best of all, everybody is _super_ careful not to ask me direct questions so my headache is barely ever bad anymore! That by itself is basically worth everything else combined."

Sundancer nodded. She rolled and groaned as she landed on the Greens she had just traded away. "Oh for crying out loud, a hotel already?! You, are evil."

"Evil In _Training_. $1,275."

"I swear you're cheating." She grumbled while handing over the very last of her available money. "I do understand hating your powers though. I'm not a fan of mine either kid."

"I don't hate them, Dancer! I just don't like the headaches. The numbers are comforting. I just want people to stop asking me questions so I can choose when to ask them myself and keep my head from hurting."

"And everyone who interacts with you knows that, Dinah," Coil said nodding. "If someone starts frustrating you with too many direct questions let me know and I'll talk to them or get them reassigned."

"Got it! Oh! Is my Dad coming for dinner tonight?"

"No, he called to say he has a late meeting with your uncle and to not wait for him. Your mother should make it though. And they'll both be here tomorrow; I think she was bringing lasagna tomorrow too."

"Woohoo! Dancer you should come for dinner tomorrow, my mom's lasagna is awesome. And oh look, that's the Green you landed on again! Got anything left to mortgage?" The smile she sent towards Sundancer was far too smug for a twelve-year-old.

"I hate you," Sundancer glared as she flipped over her last property and conceded defeat. "I'll have to see about dinner. I have to help Mr. C. with a job in the morning and it might go long."

"I know," Dinah said nodding. "If you guys get Canary back here the situation in the city improves by 6.822%. Be safe!"

"I will kid. If I don't make it back in time tell your Mom I said hi."

"Will do. Mr. C. can I watch the operation later?"

Coil nodded as he stood along with Sundancer. "I'll have Lemark come and get you when we're ready to start in the morning. Let me know if you need anything in the meantime Dinah."

"Okay, see you guys later!" She waved as she started to put her board game away smiling and whistling to herself.

Coil smiled as well as he walked out of the room. Now if only he could get his own daughter to agree with his plans so readily…

* * *

"Coil, we have to talk about Noelle's treatment," Trickster said stepping in front of Coil as he walked back towards his office shortly after lunch.

Biting back the first three comments he wanted to say, Coil let himself nod once towards the leader of his little pet villain group. "Is this really the _best_ time to be discussing this?"

"I'd say it's probably the single best time. You _need_ us tomorrow. And it's a rather time sensitive operation too. So I'd say we're in a pretty unique position to renegotiate," Trickster said smirking at him.

Coil indulged himself a little and wasted about two seconds of personal time and two minutes of Sight finding entertaining ways to kill Trickster painfully. Then he actually got serious and had to waste another five minutes of Sight to thread through the conversation.

Fuck Trickster.

"By all means renegotiate. However you should probably consult your team first, as I am certain this is not a unanimous determination to force my hand like this. Especially considering I left one of your group not half an hour ago. In addition, I would like to remind you that I _never said_ I could _cure_ your girlfriend."

"Now hold on there, Coil. The only reason we came here is - "

"Is because Accord was going to either kick you out or kill you if you stayed in Boston longer and I agreed to _try_ to help," Coil said scowling and stepping up to Trickster forcing the man back a step. "My resources are far greater than yours, but they are by no means unlimited. I cannot be expected to drop plans I have been working on for years simply to fix a single employee who may not even be able to be cured! I am _working_ on it, but I can't devote all of my time to it. If you thought I could, that is not my problem and you are a fucking idiot."

Trickster scowled and waved his hand vaguely towards Noelle's containment unit. "I don't even think you're trying. We've been sitting here twiddling our thumbs and Noelle's getting worse."

Coil laughed at that and spread his hands wide. "You _are_ a fucking idiot. If you think for one second that I am comfortable having your pet monster in my base you're insane. She makes evil clones at a touch, Trickster! What part of that sounds like a good thing to you? It's in my best interests to fix your girlfriend. And if she manages to keep a version of her powers afterwards, even better, because she could be useful instead of just a mounting disaster waiting to happen."

"You - "

"If she gets out as she is right now, a quarter of the capes in the city die. I've already run the numbers." Coil cut Trickster off as he saw Lemark coming behind the villain and inclining his head towards Coil's office. "I am _working_ on helping her. I never made any guarantees and I make none now. All I can say is that I want her cured as much - if not _more_ \- than you do. Now, if that's it, get out of my way. I have actual work to do."

Trickster scowled and shouldered Coil out of the way as he headed back towards the small barracks room he shared with Ballistic and Oliver. Grinding his teeth, Coil turned to his own room and waved Lemark in behind him. As the door slammed shut, he growled. "I wish there was an option where I could kill him and their team didn't implode."

"Bigger concerns at the moment. We can worry about grutch matches with the Travelers later, Boss."

"What is it now?" he asked sighing and sinking into his chair.

In answer, Lemark pulled up the projection screen in the room. Coil felt his blood run a bit colder at the image on the screen. "Fucking hell, Taylor…She can call up Egyptian plagues now? That's practically half the street."

"Keep watching, Danny. It gets worse."

"Worse? How does it get worse than…did they just vanish? How do bugs move that fast? Where the hell did they go?!"

"Gets worse in a minute." The man said in a sigh.

"Whose house is this?"

"The Clements residence."

"Clements, Clements, I know that name," Danny said laying his mask to the side and frowning. "The daughter was one of Taylor bullies right? Wasn't the PRT going after her along with the other two?"

Kevin slapped a hand over his face. "Oh for fucks sake! _You just talked to your daughter about this the other day_! Madison Clements is part of Taylor's team now Danny!"

"…I don't remember that." He had called Taylor. Or maybe she had called him. She had called him. Right. She had asked for Tattletale, he'd put up a fuss because Tattletale was a bitch and he was looking forward to getting a chance to kill her when she went too far one day, Taylor had talked him around to giving her a chance…He'd tipped off Mush to take out one of the Merchant capes and make sure that she got a workout as well as to test her a bit…When had Madison come up in the conversation?

"Okay, look at me. Good. Taylor's known team members: herself, whatever the fuck her magic bug thing counts as, Amy Dallon who is now going by Darwin, Lisa Wilbourn also known as Tattletale, and Madison Clements who apparently goes by Watchtower now."

"What are her powers?" Danny asked frowning. They must not have been very impressive otherwise he would've remembered her.

Kevin shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. Except being good enough with computers to hack into a few places she shouldn't and annoy Dragon a bit every once in a while."

Danny blinked. "Wait what? She has no powers? At all?"

"None."

"And Taylor recruited her?"

"Yes."

"Okay…Wait, if she's good enough without powers to frustrate Dragon why didn't we recruit her and get her a Cauldron vial?"

Kevin leaned into his hand again with another groan. "The girl is entirely unremarkable. We had no idea she existed until your daughter brought her into the scene and we were forced to look her up. None of this is important! What is important is that Taylor has been protecting her from the PRT and secured your promise to leave her alone _yesterday_!"

"…I still don't remember talking about Madison. But moving on. They obviously had a falling out if Taylor is bringing the Bible into things concerning her home."

"Emma and Alan Barnes are inside that house. Taylor and Madison arrived afterwards. Taylor is reacting to your old friends invading one of her new sanctuaries. We think. Details are sketchy. This only happened a few minutes ago. The video is from a kid across the street."

Danny closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. It was nearly a minute before he was calm enough to continue. "Show me the rest of the video."

Kevin hit play and for another minute or two there was relative quiet in the street. Then all hell broke loose. The bugs that had coated the area came back in what could only be described as a 'tidal wave'. Danny's mouth fell open at the scene in front of him and he dimly noted Kevin cringing backwards from the screen as if the bugs could get through it and cover him even here. They surged into the house through every available opening, taking barely ten seconds and yet those seconds lasted a lifetime.

The screen stayed mercifully blank for another minute or two, then two figures came practically running out of the house. Danny could vaguely recognize Alan and Emma though the video didn't really zoom in on them enough for him to have been sure if he hadn't been told previously. After that, the bugs again flew out of the house and seemed to almost vanish into thin air with how fast they dispersed.

"Jesus christ…" he muttered.

"Yeah."

"No, really, jesus fucking christ!"

"Yeah. Your daughter has issues."

He laid his head on the table and groaned. "She didn't kill them at least. That's something. Damage control?"

"Clements already took care of it. She and Tattletale released a carefully edited video from an interior security camera. It has the group all shouting at each other and shows the two Barnes almost daring her to do something. All the faces are blurred and the voices are messed with enough that it's not recognizable. Someone skilled can probably figure it out easily enough, but your daughter's identity is basically an open secret at this point. Honestly, now, I would start watching your own back in case the gangs start trying to get to her through you. You're potentially collateral damage solely by accident."

"Hell," he picked his head up and stared at the last image on the screen. This was Tattletale's fault. She had set this shitstorm up thanks to her grudge against him. "Why release the video?"

"Keeps Barnes from acting first. Shows it was basically self-defense and that Taylor didn't really do anything except posture and intimidate. An asshole judge could probably swing for assault with a parahuman ability, but a good defense lawyer would have it thrown out in a heartbeat. It might not help as much on PHO, but it helps with the PRT and that was probably their goal. It's shows she's not crazy or a loose canon, which I can guarantee you is how Alan Barnes would want to spin things."

Danny sighed and waved towards the screen feeling suddenly very tired. "Show me that video."

* * *

The transport was _late_. It was fucking _late_. By _three goddamn hours_! Three wasted hours of Sight! Because of a damaged bridge and then a small landslide on the alternate route! How the fuck was he supposed to plan around a godamn earthquake?! Especially when no one _told him_! He could work miracles, he could only see his _own_ actions and if they didn't _fucking call _to tell him that they were delayed what the fuck was he supposed to do?!

Perfect fucking time for Tattletale to have jumped ship. Absolutely perfect fucking timing. He knew that Grue wasn't ready to do this job by himself. This was too high-profile for the small town thief. He had big eyes, but no follow through. And Trickster was likely fucking with him intentionally to get back at him!

Seething, Danny continued pacing in front of the screen in his operations room. His fingers were clenching behind his back and he itched to throw something, anything. It didn't matter what as long as it shattered. Instead, he was sitting here walking back and forth in a line waiting for news and planning how he was going to murder Trickster and -

"Package in sight," the radio chirped as an image _finally_ resolved itself on the projection. His people jumped into motion around him and he immediately set himself in place and fixed his eyes on the screen. Pulling his headset on, his lips rose into the semblance of a smile.

"Excellent. Right on schedule," he said into the radio. Just because it _was_ late didn't mean the others needed to know that. "Proceed."

"Roger," Grue replied. The image wavered as the dogs took off over the hill running down towards Dragon's truck. There was only a single hero running escort today since…well it was only Canary in there. She wasn't going to break out on her own and who gave enough of a shit about the girl to stage a prison break for a wannabe idol singer?

Apparently he did.

"Contact in ten seconds."

Dauntless saw them coming and he shifted his flight, aiming towards one of Bitch's dogs with the Arclance. Coil smirked wider and called his Sight.

-Key radio. "Stay on course, ignore the hero." Dauntless strikes with Arclance, dog stumbles but doesn't stop. Bitch leaps onto Dauntless, knocks hero from the sky. Rest of mission proceeds. Bitch left behind.

-Key radio. "Ballistic, shoot him." Shifted last aim last second - accident? Projectile knocks Dauntless from the sky. Blood from the head. Dead hero.

-Key radio. "Ballistic, aim for the chest." Aim shifted last second; image judder implies dog stepped in a divot. Projectile knocks Dauntless from the sky. Dauntless breathing hard, armor dented. Mission proceeds.

10 more iterations later and knocking Dauntless down with Ballistic was still the best option. He set them on that course and watched as the monster dogs tore into the transport barely a minute after that. Dauntless had just gotten back up and was using his boots to close the distance when he was suddenly replaced by Ballistic…while 4 feet off the ground.

Ballistic shouted as he fell to the ground though Dauntless was just as confused as he appeared next to Grue who proceeded to punch Dauntless' exposed chin and then start grappling for control of the Arclance. Coil just sighed.

He flipped through another five minutes of the fight and grimaced as he dropped out of the Sight again. "Genesis, get Ballistic onto Regent's dog. His ankle is broken." The jellyfish-like flying thing that Genesis had opted to create for this operation lifted a tentacle in acknowledgment and floated towards her teammate to retrieve him.

Dauntless had managed to get the Arclance back from Grue despite his bloody nose and was just turning it to taze the villain when his muscles locked up and his attack missed, lashing out into the dog behind them instead. Regent just laughed into the melee and the dog kicked out a leg in an attempt to swat at the annoyance.

Come back in another few months Dauntless, when you've had time to build your equipment's charge up further.

Sundancer ran out of the wrecked transport with the bound Canary held in her arms and lifted her up to Trickster. Between the two of them they managed to get her onto the monstrous dog. The girl looked ready to cry, but she wasn't fighting back against her captors. In fact, she was looking around with narrowed eyes…as if she was waiting for something. But what could she be waiting for? Did she _want_ to go to the Birdcage? Who would want to go to that horrific hellhole? She didn't even deserve to go there!

He dropped into the Sight just as the radio chirped again with Regent shouting his indignation.

-"Ow! Something just stung me!" Hive forms. Punches Grue. Disperses as Grue swings back letting the villain knock Dauntless out cold. Hive reforms and webs up Grue. Larger bugs attack Trickster and Sundancer. Small swarms go after the remaining members. Massed flying bugs with large web grab Canary and move over the hill.

-"Ow! Something just stung me!" Hive forms. "Grue, use your Darkness _now_!" Darkness spreads. Everyone blinded. Shouts over the radio. Grue webbed up. Trickster webbed up. Massed flying bugs with large web exit Darkness carrying Canary and move over the hill.

-"Ow! Something just stung me!" Hive forms. "Ballistic, spray it with projectiles _now_!" Bugs destroyed. Smaller swarms go after the remaining members. Trickster webbed up. Massed flying bugs with large web grab Canary and move over the hill.

…

It took him nearly 100 iterations before he found one that worked and in that time Trickster and Grue had already been webbed up while he'd been attempting to find the correct actions to take. No matter.

This would work now.

He keyed the radio. "Sundancer, form a small Sun and hover it over Grue to melt the webbing. Then shift it to Trickster and hold it in place above Canary as the team withdraws. As long as you move with the Sun, the bugs will stay repelled. Bitch, here is what the dogs need to do…"

* * *

"Dinah," Coil bit out as he stared at the screen. His lips were in a thin line, his fingers clenched tight enough on the table that there would've been divots if it hadn't been steel. The team was almost back in Brockton Bay now, they were just on the city's outskirts and they had _finally_ lost his daughter's team about ten miles back. Thank god. He was down to just a few seconds worth of Sight left. If he hadn't been forced to waste so much time this morning trying to determine what had gone wrong while _no one talked to him_ then maybe things would be in a less precarious position, but as it was…He only needed five minutes. Five minutes and they'd be back in a location where he had enough men to beat back anything Taylor could throw at him. Five minutes and he'd be golden.

"They're not back yet?"

"No. You should be having dinner with your parents. It was lasagna night."

"I wanted to see how the operation was going. This was important to making the city better," Dinah said stepping up beside him. She frowned at the image displayed. "They're close…but…oh."

"Oh, what?"

"89.911% chance they don't make it back with Canary."

"_What_?!" Coil shouted. He immediately dropped into the Sight.

-Key radio. "You're being pursued! Move faster!" Acknowledgement. Dogs speed up. Dogs fall to acid bugs. Riders thrown.

-Key radio. "You're being pursued! Stop and fight!" Acknowledgement. Dogs skid to a stop. Riders drop to the ground. Half the riders fall asleep nearly immediately. Hidden tranquilizers bugs?

-Key radio. "You're being pursued! Stop and fight! Be warned, you have tagalong creatures on your persons!" Riders knocked out _as_ the dogs stopped despite brushing at their extremities.

Pain spiked through his forehead and Coil hissed as he dropped to one knee, a hand clenched over his temple. "Fuck!"

And that had been the option he'd been stuck on as his Sight failed. Fuck, fuck, fuck, _FUCK_! The image on the screen wavered as the dogs whined and shuffled backwards and forwards. Taylor's swarm sprang into focus in the woods and she walked calmly through them with Darwin at her side. As the two approached the dogs, one moved back while the other sat down on its haunches and whined. Taylor went to the camera and lifted it into her hands. "Guess we finally found your time limit, Coil. Be seeing you around."

The camera feed died and he slammed a hand into the table screaming out his rage. Several of the men in the room shuffled closer to the exit. He ignored them focused solely on the static filled screen. After everything he did for that girl…

"Let them keep her," Dinah murmured beside him.

"…What?"

"11.361% chance that the situation in the city improves if they have her. That's better than if we do. Nearly double. Let them keep her."

Coil scowled as he turned to the girl. "Do you know _why_ it improves if Queen and her group has control of Canary?"

Dinah sighed and shook her head. "Something big happens in the next few years. I don't know exactly what and I don't know exactly when. I keep asking questions each day to narrow it down. I know it's bad and a lot of people die. Almost everyone I ask about in the city is dead. I'm starting to think it goes beyond just Brockton Bay, so I'm working on expanding my questions in order to narrow down what it is and where it happens. Whatever it is, the situation is more likely to improve if Canary joins Queen's team instead of ours. Please let them keep her."

Coil closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Finally he asked, "Did you know the numbers got better before just now?"

"No. I only asked after Queen took her. But now I know. It would be stupid not to act on what I know…right? We are trying to make the city better aren't we?"

He let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. "Yes, yes we are, Dinah. Okay, Queen can keep Canary. She wins this round. Let's go have that lasagna."

* * *

Danny set his mask to the side and held his head in his hands as he rubbed his temples. Fucking hell this day had been long, frustrating, and with no reward at all. Half the Travelers were pissed at Trickster, the Undersiders were angry that they had raided a Birdcage transport and hadn't even ended up with the prisoner, Taylor and _fucking Tattletale_ had beaten him when he should've been able to walk circles around them!

He could see 6 hours into his own future for fucks sake! How in the hell had they managed to reroute the goddamn transport, knock out his radio communications, _and_ follow his team for long enough to simply _outlast_ him?! What in the hell was Taylor's range?! And what the fuck had they done to take out a damn bridge?!

A sterile waft of air tickled his nose. Danny looked up and scowled. "Contessa. Do I have you to thank for the colossal fuck up that today became?"

The fedora clad woman in a suit plopped down in the chair across from him as the portal behind her closed. "No. I just didn't interfere. I should have gotten popcorn though. There is precious little amusement to be had with my sort of power."

"So why the fuck are you here?"

"Consider this a friendly note of caution. The fact that I _am_ here should tell you something, Danny."

He took a second to parse that before frowning. "Either you are interested in me or you are interested in my daughter."

"Taylor is a lynchpin. She herself isn't very powerful. But she is magnetic. She draws people to her. An empty chessboard isn't much of a game. And Taylor has started to gather her pieces; the board is shifting in her favor."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "And just who is she supposed to be playing this game against. Me?"

Contessa laughed standing and leaning on the back of the chair as she flashed a cold smile at him. "Oh Danny, in a month Taylor has accomplished almost as much as you have in two years. She's not playing against you. Her opponent is bigger, much bigger, and she doesn't even realize it. But her _shard _does. I'm starting to think we have a turncoat amongst the enemy. Possibly more than one now. And _that_ is interesting."

"And just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, keep an eye on her. Things are about to be set in motion that I wouldn't stop even if I wanted to. She needs more pieces if she's going to be the King on our board. Oh, and I'd check your PRT contacts. You might have an important message. Door to base."

As the boogeyman waltzed out of his office, Danny picked up his phone and unlocked his computer. He stared at the messages in his inbox and felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh no…no, no, no…tell me this isn't you, baby girl, tell me this isn't you…"

He tried to reach for the Sight to path his way through the next conversation yet it just sent iron spikes of fire through his skull. Wincing and biting off a curse he let the power go. He'd have to do this the old fashioned way.

He dialed and set it on the desk. It went to voicemail. He called again. It went to voicemail. He called Tattletale. It went to voicemail. Fuck.

Fuck, fuck fuck.

Okay, he didn't have Amy Dallon's number but…The other girl! What was her name…Clements! Diving into his files he found her contact info and dialed her number.

"Madison speaking, how can I help you?"

"Oh for crying out loud! Mads seriously? Hang up!" a voice yelled in the background.

"No! Wait, don't! This isn't about Canary! Miss Clements please, I need to speak with my daughter immediately. It's _not_ about Canary. _Please_!"

"…Guys?" the Clements girl asked, her hand over the speaker.

There was quiet on the other end of the line though he could dimly hear Tattletale's muffled voice in the background. "Hell. He's telling the truth. Let him talk."

The phone seemed to shift hand and the next voice he heard was Taylor's. "I'm listening, Father."

"Did you go after the Empire?"

"Did I _what_? I think you know damn well what I did today."

"No, I mean over the past few weeks. Have you been secretly taking out the Empire grunts? Have you kidnapped Alabaster?"

He could hear the frown and confusion in her voice as she replied back, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh thank god," he muttered wiping a hand down his face. "There's been a hive of…insectoid…_things_ discovered near Empire territory. In Empire territory. And there have been deaths. They're…the PRT has photos. It's disturbing. Only Empire members so far. Alabaster is missing, presumably taken by these things. Taylor, these creatures, they aren't bugs, but they're close enough. You're the only bug Master in the city and you're at best an Independent, at worst a vigilante. They're blaming you. We have to find the source of these things and we have to do it now. If we don't…they're going to come for you Taylor. And they're not going to come with open arms."

The line was silent for long enough Danny started to worry that she had hung up. Finally, she replied with a hard edge to her voice. "Tell us everything you know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Does Contessa probably have a bit too much emotion? Maybe. But I dislike the official canon of her basically being an emotionless puppet almost completely driven around on autopilot by her powers. So I'm trying for a middle ground with her.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'One Bad Day' by ack1308. Shadow Stalker kills Grue and proceeds to make everything even worse from there, while in the meantime Lisa accidentally sets Aisha onto a path for vengeance that ends with Taylor killing a girl, Coil sends a new leader that forces Lisa's hand and causes her to run, Vicky accidentally forces Amy's hand and sets off the ticking bomb that is Amy Dallon. The Bay is not going to be the same afterwards…and Coil is going to have a very bad experience when he finally realizes what horror he has sown. Though surprisingly enough Piggot is actually fairly reasonable and figures quite a bit out quickly, not that that helps much sadly. In Progress.


	14. Monarch 01

**Monarch 01**

I stared at the computer monitor and the images on it, my mouth set into as thin a line as possible.

"What. The. _Hell_?!" Madison mumbled, pushing back slightly from the screen.

"Yeah," Lisa whispered, pushing her to the side and paging down to the next image my father had sent us.

"It's like they've been half eaten!"

"Yeah."

"What the _fucking hell_?!"

"Please stop saying that," the newest resident of the lair pleaded from her spot curled up on the couch as she clung to the stuffed bear that Amy had passed to her on the drive back into the city. Paige Mcabee, Canary, ex-idol, ex-future-Birdcage-resident, fugitive, newly adopted mascot of The Outcasts. (Amy had thrown a fit over 'The Creationists'.)

I grimaced and turned from the images, moving over to kneel down next to Paige. Taking her hand in mine I tried to smile; I wasn't sure how successful I was. "I'm sorry about this, Paige. It's usually a lot quieter around here. I'm generally not being framed for murder."

"Well you did just break me out…Maybe somebody is angry at you?" she replied with a soft grimace.

I shrugged. "It's possible, but the person with the most reason to be pissed is the one who just called to warn us. He's my father and while we're on opposite sides, I don't think he'd do this. This is…something else."

"I'm not really comfortable with any of this," Paige said sinking further into the couch. "After your friend is done with…with my…with changing my," she broke off and turned away reaching up to wipe a hand across her eyes. "I'm sorry, this is just all very overwhelming. It's not that I'm not grateful, _I am_, I'm just not comfortable doing cape things. I just wanted to sing…"

"We get it," I said nodding and squeezing her hand. "There's nothing wrong with that at all. We didn't do this as a quid pro quo. We got you out because you didn't deserve to go to that hellhole. You can do whatever you want."

"Paige," Lisa called over from her spot at the computer. "You're, of course, free to go once Amy changes your face - assuming she can get rid of the feathers too - but it's not a good idea just yet. Even without whatever the fuck is going on downtown, there's going to be people looking for you. Dauntless knows that my old team was involved so the heroes are almost definitely going to question me and I can easily lead them in circles with half truths if I know where you are. Depending on how conscious he was during the latter half of the battle, he may know we were involved as a whole group which gets Taylor and Amy questioned too. Again, we have a pre-planned response, so you're in the clear. If you want to leave right now though, I can't guarantee that misdirection is going to work as well. If you can wait around here for a few days, maybe a week or two, just until the heat dies down a bit, you'll find it a lot easier to just slip away with no one the wiser."

Paige nodded. "I can do that. This is a lot nicer place than the cell they had me in for the past few months anyway," she said with a small chuckle. "And besides, at least that horrible metal gag is gone!"

"See, better already," I commented squeezing her hand one last time as I stood and moved back to the computer.

"I got the Chinese!" Amy cheered as she walked back into the lair holding up her bag in triumph. I gave her a small smile while Paige clapped and jumped to her feet. Madison and Lisa stayed locked on the computer. "Wow, tough crowd. Only the newbie cares…Who died now?" She asked chuckling. Lisa, Madison, and I all grimaced and shared a look before they turned back to reviewing my father's information.

"Amy, while you were out, we err, got a call. From Coil," I said talking a bowl of beef and broccoli from her and heading back over to my nerds.

"Oookay. We were expecting that though weren't we?"

Paige dug into the bag of takeout and darn near cried in happiness when she found the egg drop soup and the lemon chicken under it. In any other circumstances it would've been adorable; right now it merely cast a tiny ray of light into the rather dark evening.

"Apparently someone is either framing me for murdering Empire thugs or there's another Cape with bug powers that's doing it. Or…I don't really want to think about the 'or'."

"You need to ask it, Taylor," Lisa commenting staring at the screen with a blurry photo of what seemed to be a giant ball of bugs rushing towards a bald guy wearing E88 colors in an alley. "This is all sorts of bad and we need confirmation one way or the other."

Amy frowned and moved to stand beside me as she looked at the screen. Her skin paled. "Oh…_shit_."

"Yeah," Lisa replied sighing. "Taylor, you need to ask."

"Fuck, I _know_." I turned and balled my fists, clenching my eyes shut. "I know…" Biting the metaphorical bullet, I pulled the bugs in one of my local clusters into the room with us and forced Hive to gather itself together.

"Wow, you can make a human analog out of bugs?" Paige asked, her spoon hovering in midair. "I'm not sure if that's creepy or awesome."

"Used to be awesome, now it's just weird," I muttered.

Hive raised its eyebrows at me and inclined its head off to one side. "Normally I'm the one that's forcing myself into existence instead of the other way around. What's wrong, Taylor?"

"You're me. You should know what I'm going to ask."

The construct crossed its arms over its chest and leaned back against the wall. "…Do you honestly think I'm capable of something like that?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slow as I nodded. "Depending on what parts of me you have…yes. If it was random civilians I couldn't do that sort of thing, but racist bastards that prey on the weak and drag this city towards an early death? If you don't have any of my empathy restraint or worry about consequences…yeah, I do think you could do that."

Hive sighed. "Phrased like that, I guess you're not wrong. And on a deeper level you're more correct than you realize. But I didn't kill those people. Those creatures aren't under my control, I only work with the clusters you already have tagged, Taylor, nothing more, nothing less. Plus, those pictures imply a hive cluster operation and I'm humanoid. It's a limitation of operating on this sort of…let's go with limitation. You control the swarm, I control this form. We're balanced. Those critters? They have a whole different operation going for them."

I nodded and looked closer at Hive taking a step towards it. "Why do you make me so uncomfortable?"

It let its arms drop to its sides and gave me a sad smile - which was fairly impressive considering it was a smile formed with bugs. "Because at this point, we're some sort of funhouse mirrors of each other, almost but not quite identical. It's called uncanny valley; and nothing likes to look at itself in the mirror for too long, Taylor; human or otherwise. We done?"

"Don't go back on patrol. Stay off the streets until we know what is causing this and have it locked it down."

"Understood. Call me if you need me." The bugs dispersed and I turned back to my friends letting my fists unclench.

"Well there goes the easy route. Thank god," I said, relieved.

"Taylor," Amy said coming up and hugging me. "You're not a killer, even your subconscious knows that."

I nodded into her shoulder and leaned into the hug. "Yeah. Just one problem now."

Madison swiveled her chair towards me. "What's that?"

"Now we need to figure out just what the hell _is_ killing these people."

* * *

We left Amy and Paige behind in the lair as Lisa, Madison, and I headed out. Lisa and I were suited up, Madison drove the van, though she had grabbed her little mask as well. I wasn't super happy about her coming along, but she had insisted and we hadn't wanted to take the time to argue either way about it. So, she drove the van as a compromise, with her laptop in a backpack between the seats as we drove the streets.

I was scouting with my mini-clusters as we moved looking for anything that moved like a bug, but wasn't. It was somewhat slow going as we were trying to follow a grid pattern with my coverage as we went about things. That said, my range was awesome and Empire territory wasn't quite as extreme as I had initially feared. Hopefully, we'd only be out here for an hour or two before I could find _something_ at least.

We were approaching the half hour mark with nothing to show for it except frustration when I got a phone call. I looked at the screen and grimaced. Tattl-_Insight_ looked over my shoulder and sighed. "Bound to happen eventually. Don't let him go to voicemail, hon."

"Really not going to enjoy this conversation," I muttered as Watchtower stopped for a light and I pressed the answer button, leaving it on speaker. The connection lit up and I held the phone between us so that all three of us could hear it. "Hi, Armsmaster. Let me take a wild stab at why you're calling?"

"You are aware of the attacks?" he asked, sounding more robotic than I had ever heard him before. Damn, now I knew why Amy had said he was hard to work with.

"We got tipped off a few hours ago. We're looking for some of the creatures now to see if we track down the source."

There was quiet for a few seconds before Armsmaster replied. "I'm sure you understand how this looks, Queen."

I winced and nodded, only belatedly realizing he couldn't see that. "Yeah, I do. I didn't do it. From what I'm told, these aren't even regular bugs."

"No they aren't. This just further casts suspicion onto the Creationists."

"I thought we settled on The Outcasts?" Watchtower asked, turning a corner. Insight dropped her head into her hands and groaned. "And how does 'not real bugs' make Queen more suspicious instead of less?"

"Who else is on the line with you, Queen?"

"Watchtower and Insight. Like I said, we're looking for the source and it was easier with a driver. Watchtower is right, by the way, we did ultimately decide on our name being The Outcasts," I said reaching over to rub Insight's shoulder and flash her a half-hearted smile as she rolled her eyes at me. Inside my guts were roiling; I knew exactly why there were eyes looking to our team and it wasn't a happy thought, nor was it something I could easily rebut if he brought it up.

"I see." He again stayed quiet for several seconds. "Have you spoken with Darwin recently, Queen?"

Fuck. He did bring it up. "She's staying in our base," I said. "She hasn't made anything new since the night you met up with us at the Merchant warehouse. Once we get a hold of these things we'll know more and she could give us some idea of what we're facing."

"…Queen, the attacks have been backdated. They started nearly three weeks ago and have been escalating since. If this is a Darwin creation…that she has not created it recently does not help things. And I have only your word to go on even if it did."

My blood chilled a bit at that. So much for the dim hope of keeping Amy out of things. "Don't you have your fancy lie detector?"

"Needs to see you," Insight murmured.

"You're smart enough to realize that such a tool would be more effective in person and would never be entirely trusted by the PRT either way, Queen." He stopped and seemed to sigh, his voice growing a bit gruffer as he continued on. "It would help matters if the two of you would come to either the Rig or PRT Headquarters. At least for the duration of this event."

I went to reply but Insight held up a hand and took over. "And what happens to them if your people decide that they are at fault? Queen's the only bug controller on the East Coast, Armsmaster. Out here, she can help to contain things before they get worse and we can put a good spin on this. In your custody, even if it's eventually decided she had nothing to do with it, public opinion would crucify her. It's bad enough that this is coming after Barnes pushed her to action yesterday. This on top of everything else? She'd be lucky to be allowed to leave the city. And Darwin…I think we both know that if she goes into one of your buildings she's not getting out."

"You think so little of us?"

"Honestly, I somewhat respect a few of the capes in the local Protectorate. Most of you actually care and do the best with what you got. But you don't call the shots, you can't because of how the system is setup. Darwin has been painted under a bad light recently and people are getting annoyed that she hasn't been back to the hospitals yet, like it's her duty instead of a service that she performed. Everyone needs a break, except the healers never get one. Now that she's actually _taken_ one, she's the bad guy." Insight shook her head. "It's not your fault, but the PRT is never going to let her go if they get ahold of her. Queen can make her own decisions, but I, for one, am not about to let Darwin willingly walk into a prison cell."

"And you, Queen? What is your answer?"

I looked between Insight and Watchtower. "I'm sorry, I can't. Depending on just how far removed from bugs these things are, I might still be able to control them, but I need to be out here to do that."

This time his sigh was audible. "Queen, we won't be able to keep your name out of this. If you come in now, we can at least say that we know the creatures are outside of your range."

"Except my orders continue after I give them, so that doesn't help me at all," I said shaking my head. "And that little tidbit would definitely come up in a trial if things ever got to that point. So no, I'm sorry. I'm going to fix this from out here. I'm going to find the source, I'm going to grab it, and I'm going to strangle this thing before it gets any worse."

"There is nothing I can say to change your mind?"

"No."

"Very well. So be it." I moved to end the call but paused as he started to speak again. "If you are determined to go this route, I would suggest you stay away from Yule Street. It is outside the current radius of the attacks and close to ABB territory, yet there was a disturbance there earlier tonight leading to concerns about potential expansions. Reports have Lung on the move as well as Rune."

Insight immediately turned to her laptop and started pulling up windows. I just nodded towards her and said, "Copy that. We'll call you once we find the source."

"As will I if we find it first."

As Armsmaster hung up, I looked over at Insight, my eyebrows raised in question. She swallowed hard and shifted her gaze between me and Watchtower. Letting out a breath she pulled out her vulpine smirk. "So…who wants to go find Lung, Rune, and some mutant bugs?"

* * *

As we got within a few blocks of Yule Street, I had Watchtower pull over and sent my bugs ahead to scout out the area. Armsmaster's warning about Lung being in the area was proven to be accurate. Several of the buildings on either side of the street had large scorch marks on them and there was quite a lot of destruction along the street path itself, including what looked like claw marks down the middle of the road.

"Geez, this guy doesn't do things by half does he?" I muttered.

Insight chuckled. "Yeah, Lung is rather the opposite of subtle. What do you see?"

"Just a lot of destruction at the moment. Hang on, let me get a bit further, I can hear some crashing up ahead." I shifted my clusters further down the street and finally caught sight of the ongoing battle.

Rune was there, sitting on a floating piece of concrete, cradling a broken arm across her chest with a bloody bandage tied around her head. She had apparently learned from the last time we'd fought since her rock platform was only about six feet up this time instead of closer to fifteen.

In front of her was Lung, his transformation had turned him into a nearly complete dragon. There were metal scales covering the entirety of his body, all four limbs ended in claws, his mouth was extended into more of a snout with large fangs, and he had what looked like rudimentary wings on his back.

And he was not fighting Rune. They were _both_ fighting a…cloud of mutant insects.

"Fuck me…"

"Queen?"

"Either Lung is protecting Rune or Rune is making damn sure to keep him between herself and whatever our evil bugs are. There's a few that keep trying to get past him to one side and she'll toss a rock or two to squash them, but the majority of the swarm is actively engaging him."

"That's new behavior," Watchtower said frowning. "I thought they were just going after E88 people?"

"They still are," Insight said pulling up a view of the street on her laptop through Watchtower's access program. "Look, they're fighting him because he's in the way. He's blocking them from getting to her and she's Empire."

"How are they _still_ fighting?" I asked. "It took us ten minutes to get here, plus however long before the Protectorate were warned, plus however long they knew before telling us. How has Lung not destroyed these things yet?"

Insight shook her head and looked to me with wide eyes. "That _is_ a terrifying thought isn't it? What's the plan, Queen? Do we sit this out until one side or the other wins? There's at least three factions there. Lung wouldn't be doing this out of the goodness of his heart, even if he has some warped sense of honor, it wouldn't matter: Rune is part of a rival gang. He wouldn't protect her."

"She doesn't look like an Empire soldier right now, Insight," Watchtower commented turning the screen to stare at it. "She looks like a terrified teenage girl. Maybe she reminded him of someone enough that he decided to call a truce tonight."

"You are very optimistic," I said. I got one of my clusters a bit closer and sucked in a breath as Lung shot out a gout of flame towards the mutant creatures. The bugs on the edges of my swarm were caught in the blast and died almost instantly. None of the mutants were affected. "They're fireproof! Holy crap, these things are _fireproof_!"

"What?" Insight looked back down at the computer and swore. "Iterations. They're fucking, _iterations_! It's not a single swarm he's fought. He went up against multiple waves and this is just the latest. Look, on the ground, near the buildings! Burnt out corpses of bugs! These things improve themselves based on the threat. Hell, Queen, you need to get out there and take this cluster of the swarm before they can call more reinforcements. If they just keep getting stronger, and they are fighting _Lung_ of all capes…"

"It doesn't end well. Yeah, Watchtower, drive two blocks then stop. I'll run the rest of the way. Any closer isn't safe for you two."

"Queen, I can help," Insight protested as the van rumbled forward again.

"I read PHO, your old team barely got away from Lung after the casino thing. He's probably still pissed at you and he's a _goddamn dragon_! You're not going out there until he calms down. Plus whatever the hell these evil bug things have in their repertoire. Stay in the van, work ops with Watchtower. Find me the queen of this swarm."

Watchtower winced at that. "Are we sure they even _have_ a queen? I know we told that to Armsmaster but are we _sure_?"

I paused as the van lurched to a stop. "You better fucking hope that they do. If these things are _all _capable of breeding without a queen, then we are all fucked! And on that cheery note, if Rune takes off, get over to her and get her off the streets. If you can get her into the van great, if not, get her someplace that you can secure until I can get close to tag the bugs."

"Got it," Insight said as both girls turned to look at me.

"Be careful, Taylor," Madison said, her hands clenched hard enough on the wheel to turn white.

Smiling at her, I pulled the door open. "I'll be fine. It's bugs after all, how bad could they be?"

* * *

Me and my big mouth. I should just tape my damn mouth closed. Or maybe take a vow of silence. The more I watched through my clusters as I threaded my physical self closer, the worse it got.

Apparently the mutant swarm had decided that fireproof bugs weren't good enough to deal with Lung and their reinforcements had arrived. I watched their ball of bugs swell in size from a few dozen to a few hundred as more flew out of the closest building and joined up with the rest. I was too far away to get a good look, and my own cluster couldn't get close thanks to Lung's constant fire attacks and Rune's lobbed debris. What I could see however, implied that the newcomers were significantly larger than the previous members of the swarm, swollen even, and they were still fireproof.

Lung finally seemed to realize that his tactic wasn't working and he shifted to throwing cars at the swarm ball. The creatures parted, flowing like water around the projectile and reformed their ball. He screamed an incoherent yell of rage at the things and leaped at them, claws first and wings extended.

That proved to be, probably, his worst idea ever. As he got within striking distance of the bugs, the new fat ones shifted to the front of the swarm. They rolled onto their sides, exposing their undersides to the metal dragon. He hit them and they…burst. There was no other word to describe it. It was almost like a dozen grenades except instead of gunpowder, there was stomach acid showering over everything in range. Lung roared again, this time the timber reverberating with pain. I froze where I was, less than a block away from the scene; Rune did the same, her own concrete platform drifting to a stop in midair as her eyes widened.

Lung's wings pumped drawing him backwards away from the swarm but the initial damage was done. His claws were pockmarked with holes, holes that were not regenerating like his wounds usually did. This was a man would could regrow _limbs_ and whatever the fuck was in those fat mutant bugs was eating away at him to such a degree that it slowed his regeneration to a _crawl_! My knees went a bit weak at that thought.

The swarm had no such compunction against waiting for shock to resolve it seemed. The ball moved forward as one, chasing after Lung as he dropped back to the ground and tried to grab something else to toss their way. The bugs again flowed around the object - a telephone pole this time - and more of the bursters hit him. This time they struck his chest and back along with more direct hits on his limbs. He roared in pain again, one of his wings dropping off completely and large holes forming on his arm and leg seemingly in offset to smaller pockmarked ones in his chest.

Lung let out one last geyser of fire towards the heavens before he curled into a ball and started to shrink. Some of the bugs hovered around him while the swarm as a whole reoriented itself to focus towards Rune. Rune who was still frozen in complete shock on her concrete slab.

Hell.

I sprinted forward, leaping over debris as the swarm started to move. I kamikazed several of my own clusters against the front of the pack to slow them down. It wasn't much, but it was enough to let me get within range of the rearmost part of the swarm.

I reached out my senses to the mutant creatures and…it was like pushing through molasses. I tried to grab control of them and they slipped, I pushed again, and again they slipped. The swarm had stopped its movement towards Rune instead turning to me. They _all_ focused on me.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck_. I needed to get control _now_ or I was going to wind up a puddle of blood and digestive goo on the street. Dropping my link to the rest of my own bugs, I threw everything I had at the bugs in front of me. As the first of the bursters started to fly towards my head, I could suddenly feel the blockage slip aside. They were part of a hive mind already, but my will was _here_, mine was _immediate_, mine sang like their queen. I pulled on the link and as more of the localized swarm entered my range, I hijacked them as well. By the time I was able to grab the last of the mutant bugs, I felt like I was going to fall over from exhaustion, though the headache behind my temples likely wouldn't have allowed for that even if I had been able to.

Groaning, I collapsed down onto the street, leaning my back against some of the rubble that Lung had left lying around. The mutant swarm didn't seem to be fully under my control, but I could at least make them stop attacking and convince them to settle down to the ground. As the last one touched down, I examined one of the bursters biology as well one of the more basic original models. The burster was essentially just a flying stomach filled to the brim with some sort of acid that…dear lord a drop of water in that shit and it would explode, what kind of hell creature was this?! At least the other mutant was essentially just a flying spider, with extremely sticky and strong webbing, a tranquilizer sting, and it was also fireproof…yeah, because that wasn't the stuff of nightmares.

Shuddering, I moved my will through the molasses nature of their hive mind and pushed the bursters away. Far away. All of the bursters shifted over to a nice little corner of the street where they couldn't explode on anything or anyone. That done I levered myself up to head over and check on Lung. The holes in his body weren't quite as bad as they had been before, but he was still unconscious and they were healing very slowly.

"Holy fuck," a soft, shaking voice said behind me. I turned and found Rune standing there, still cradling her arm and staring at me and Lung. "Is he…is he dead?"

"No, he's healing. But he's hurt pretty bad. Are you okay? You don't look like you came off too well either."

"I uh…I was coming to ask for help. Kaiser said we didn't need it, but we do. We need help, we're being hunted and…who's going to want to help us? We're just - I mean, we're - I know we don't have the best philosophy, but it - I…The heroes wouldn't do anything right? We're just…we're Nazis," she finished with a sob. "I couldn't go the Merchants. What the fuck is Skidmark supposed to do against _bugs_?! And to owe _them_? Nobody knows where to find Coil. Bitch kicked me out without even letting me talk. At least with Lung…He's powerful, he's strong. He's _respected_. But these monsters…they beat _him_! And you…you stopped them…How did you stop them?"

I let out a sigh and shrugged one shoulder. "I control bugs. These are…not bugs. But they are apparently close enough that I can still get them under my aegis if I'm nearby. Well enough to make them stop fighting at least. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now."

Her eyes went from wide and unfocused to lasering in on me and she ran to close the last few feet between us. Grabbing the front of my costume with her good hand she started babbling. "Can you help us? Please? I don't know what to do anymore! Please, please help us! I'll do anything - I'll join your team, I'll join the Wards, I'll move, just _stop them_!" Her voice dropped to a whisper, "I don't want to die."

Wrapping my hand around hers I nodded. "That's the plan, Rune. That's the plan. But first, let's get you and Lung some help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The Sisters Grimm' by DoubleD20. The premise of this fic is that Ruby and Yang from RWBY are basically born in the Wormverse with similar versions of their abilities from RWBY thanks to their powers in Worm. They wind up in Brockton Bay just as Taylor goes out for her first night and help out against Lung leading to changes and possibly a new team for Taylor. Very good so far! The only downside is that it's still more or less in the beginning phases.


	15. Monarch 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This one is a bit shorter than the norm but it was too perfect of a place to split off to avoid it.

**Monarch 02**

We ended up calling the PRT in and waiting, with a softly crying Rune, while watching over Lung. I wasn't comfortable moving far away from the bugs and when the rest of my team came in, I made sure they both stayed _well_ away from the bursters. Psycho fucking bugs…

"Rune," Insight asked crouching down next to the teenager, "how did you get Lung to protect you?"

"I don't think he was protecting me," she said between sniffles. "He told me to fuck off when I went to him. But then the monsters came and he spat fire at them and they started targeting him. Then he got mad. I just…tried to keep him between me and those things…I went to him for help and then I used him like a fucking shield…God I am as bad as Mom and Dad said…It was just…all supposed to be…It was supposed to be different…"

Insight patted her good shoulder and moved to my side. "That girl's not in very good shape. I get the feeling the Empire abandoned her when she pushed too hard in asking for help. They 'let' her go but she was a sacrificial lamb. They were seeing if they could draw the evil bugs away and regroup."

"It worked," I replied looking towards to the captured swarm. They were just sitting there on the street and various pieces of debris, fluttering their wings, their spinnerets shuddering every so often. I shivered.

"This is an offshoot. A small portion sent out after an escaping bit of prey. These things don't have the numbers to be the main group and they weren't being reinforced fast enough for the queen to be nearby. No, Lung and Rune partially split the attention of the swarm but they didn't divert it all away from the main Empire offensive. The bastards sacrificed her for nothing."

"PRT is here," Watchtower chimed in pointing to several vans and two motorcycles.

Armsmaster got off one of the bikes and Miss Militia hopped off the second, both had weapons in hand before their feet touched the ground. Behind them, PRT troopers swarmed out of the three vans and formed a loose perimeter about a hundred feet back from the five of us. I gave a small, tired wave as I pushed myself to my feet to greet the heroes.

"Told you we'd call," I said.

Miss Militia stepped forward, her eyes sweeping over the scene. "The source has been contained?"

Heaving a heavy sigh, I shook my head. "No, but we did get a part of the swarm…err captured I guess. Let's go with that. It's mostly accurate."

She turned back to me, the frown evident even with her mouth hidden by the bandana. "We're definitely going to need more detail than that, Queen."

"Yeah of course. What I mean is - "

I broke off as I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I saw Armsmaster moving towards the cluster of bursters with his halberd extended and a small frown on his face. All the blood drained from my own skin and I spun on my heel to run towards him as four voices shouted in unison: "Stop! Don't go near them!" My team and surprisingly Rune, all screamed at Armsmaster just before he got within poking distance of the biological bombs. He froze, halberd half extended. I managed to jump in front of him with my arms flung wide. Insight, Watchtower, and Rune were all only a few seconds behind me, all equally cordoning off the things.

"_Do not touch these things_!" I spat out between pants feeling the bursters swivel to look at the new person behind me. Then they focused on Rune again and I could feel the hive mind bearing down on my own counter-orders again. Grimacing I held a hand to my temple and put my other arm against Runes back pushing her forward and moving between her and the swarm. "Rune, I appreciate the backup, but walk away."

"But - "

"_Walk away from the fucking bursters and stop tempting them before I lose them Rune_. This fucking _hurts_!"

Her eyes went wide and she scrambled away, running to hide behind Miss Militia. As she got further away and out of sight, the hive mind quieted and the spike of pain in my skull lowered to a dull throb. Sighing in relief, I turned back to Armsmaster. "Great, now can we please walk away from the superacid carrying, biobomb mutants? These things freak me right the hell out, and they took down Lung in seconds."

Armsmaster immediately backpedaled several steps as he stared over my shoulder at the things. "They stopped his regeneration?"

Insight moved forward grabbing my arm to steady me as we shifted positions. "Overwhelmed it more like, but yeah." Looking at me, she continued quieter, "You okay?"

"Stopping these things when they get ramped up feels like someone is digging a knife into my skull," I muttered back, not taking my hand off my temple.

"Queen, would this help?" Watchtower asked holding out some of my migraine pills.

"Probably not, but it's worth a shot. Thanks." I swallowed the medicine and tried to look more confident than I felt as I smiled up at Armsmaster and Miss Militia. Neither hero looked very convinced by my act.

"Are these…things under control?" Militia asked gesturing towards the bugs.

"Mine are milling about somewhere. I had to drop them to grab the mutants. I'll get them back in a bit. These guys are…stable. I can keep them calm but they operate on a hive mind, and when it pushes, it pushes hard. When it sees an Empire target it's harder to keep them in a single spot. I can't really _control_ them, but I can stop them from attacking. I might be able to coax them into a containment area if you have something to hold them."

"Except for the superacid, don't forget about the superacid," Insight said casting a wary eye towards the bursters. "Are they going to stay calm after you they leave your range or are they going to start destroying whatever containment section they're in to try and get back to their mission?"

I shrugged and sighed. "I have no idea. These things are not like my bugs. My bugs follow my orders, these…Actually I take that back. These _are_ following orders, just not mine." I frowned and walked closer to one of the spiderflies. Reaching out to touch it, I pushed my power deeper into its mind. The hive pushed back. "Huh, well that's interesting."

"What is interesting?" Armsmaster asked.

"I can grab these because they recognize me as a substitute queen, authorized to give orders in the hive mind's absence. So…I think I'm suppressing the hive mind when I'm controlling them. But if I were to grab their _actual_ queen…"

"You could get them all at once," Insight said nodding. "So we're back to looking for the source."

"Again, hate to play Devil's Advocate, but what if there isn't one?" Watchtower asked with a grimace. Everyone looked at her with varying degrees of horror. Rune looked ready to cry again.

"It might be better to evacuate everyone, then nuke the city if there isn't a queen…Or maybe even skip the evacuation, we seriously can't afford to let these things get out," I said, leaning on Insight as another spike of pain lanced through my head - the bugs had caught sight of Rune again. "If they can take down Lung after just a few hours of trial and error…Fuck, let's just go find the stupid bugs."

"Wait! Wait, I'm here, here!" I turned at the sound of Darwin's voice and blinked away my surprise as she ran up to us breathing hard and stopping next to me and Insight with her hands on her knees folded nearly in half. "Jesus, how do you do this for fun? Holy crap, I'm going to have a heart attack. We need a second car. Did you know the PRT stopped the buses? I didn't know the PRT stopped the buses. Oh god, can't breathe, can't breathe."

Lifting my head from my gasping teammate I glared at the blond one instead. Insight just waved her free hand and huffed. "Don't look at me, I didn't know she was coming. I would've sent our chauffeur back with our ride to pick her up."

"Darwin, where's your radio?" Watchtower asked.

"Uh, I kinda forgot it?" she said finally getting control of her breathing and standing up straight. Insight slapped a hand to her face and groaned. Darwin just glared at her. "Oh sue me. I'm not used to being in the front line. I'm also very much missing having people who can fly me places. Running sucks. Now who needs healing? Queen, you look terrible."

"Thanks," I said rolling my eyes. "You can't help me, it's all power related. Stay away from the bursters, they're basically evil. Can you heal Rune?"

Darwin took one step forward with her hand partially extended then froze and turned her head to me. "Say what now?"

"She's scared and she's being targeted by the damned mutant bugs. Please?"

"She's a _Nazi_."

"And she also pledged to quit if we helped her. I'm willing to help if it gets a scared teenager into the Wards instead of being stuck with the Empire."

"I feel I need to reiterate. She's _a fucking Nazi_."

"Insight says her people basically sent her out to be slaughtered, as bait. Amy, she's terrified and her friends abandoned her when she tried to get help. Look at who your dad is. Look at who - " I snapped my mouth shut as I suddenly grew very conscious of Miss Militia and Armsmaster standing just a few feet away and doing everything they could to not interrupt me. Sneaky bastards. Narrowing my eyes I started over. "We all start from different places. Some are worse than others. That doesn't mean we can't try to come back from them."

Amy scowled but finally stepped forward. "You should practice what you preach, Queen. We'll talk later. Am I healing Lung too? I heard he was hurt also."

Armsmaster raised his halberd a bit at that. "While I would tend to say it's not a good idea, under the circumstances if you could just ensure that he will live and his regeneration is active, it would be appreciated Darwin. It's been decided to treat this situation under a temporary truce between all major factions. At least until we are aware of the true enemy."

"Fine. But I'm not waking him up. If he just got his ass kicked then he's not going to be happy, and the last thing we need is a damn dragon running around pissing off more of these things. Why am I staying away from the evil fat ones by the way?"

"Superacid," Insight said, glaring at the bugs.

Darwin paused as she reached Rune and frowned. "Superacid huh? Interesting. Weird, but interesting. How would you even keep something like that inside the chest cavity without eating through the exoskeleton? Weird. Whatever. Hand."

Rune reached out and grasped Darwin's hand. She grimaced as a few seconds later her broken arm reset itself and I saw the small bleed from the ripped shirt wrapped around her head slow to a crawl before diminishing entirely.

"You're done. Don't say I never did anything for you."

"Thank you," Rune mumbled as Darwin walked towards the still knocked out Lung.

As Armsmaster moved over to speak with the troopers Miss Militia waved my group closer, making sure that we were all keeping Rune out of direct sight of the bugs. As we got closer she pointed towards the bursters with her newly formed machete. "We need to decide what to do with those and then we should move out. If this is just an offshoot of the main group, we need to find the larger segment and we need to do it quickly."

"Agreed," I said. "I would say you should just shoot these things. The spiderflies aren't that bad…except for the whole, webbing people up and kidnapping them schtick. But those bursters are just awful, and I don't want to consider what happens if they break away from me."

"Yes, I agree. Can you get them to move over closer to the center of the sidewalk?"

"Maybe, give me a second." I shut my eyes and reached for the bursters. It took a few moments of coaxing, but they eventually shuffled towards the indicated spot. As the last one settled into place I opened my eyes again and flinched backwards as I saw a large grenade launcher only a few inches from my face. "Give a girl some warning next time, geez."

"Apologies. I wasn't certain how long you could hold them there," Miss Militia said shrugging as best she could while sighting down on her target. "Cover your ears people." We did so, and her shot was lobbed almost immediately. The bursters died in droves as Militia peppered the section of sidewalk with round after round of grenade fire. By the time she was done, not a single thing moved.

Everyone started breathing a bit easier as she lowered her weapon. "Excellent. Now, I'll have the troopers pack the other ones up for study while you show me to your van."

I think my mouth actually dropped open at that. "I'm sorry, what?"

"We are liaising. I am your liaison. Rune, come along, you know E88 territory so we'll need you as well."

"But…but, that's…you can't just. No!"

She lifted her eyebrows at me and I could see the smile in her eyes. "Would you prefer instead to wait downtown in the PRT building or the Rig? That works just as well. This is a compromise. Lead the way?"

Turning to Insight I glared at her. "I don't know how this is your fault, but I'm blaming you. I never pissed off the PRT before I rescued your ass."

She laughed and slapped my shoulder. "Hey at least my ass is cute. Come on Darwin, this time you get a seat in the car instead of having to huff it whole way!"

* * *

The drive to Empire territory was probably the most awkward car ride I've ever been on. Between Miss Militia with her hovering, Insight with her soft tapping at the laptop's keys and Rune's constant wringing of her hands, I felt like I was going to start screaming.

The silence was broken by Watchtower asking a question of our 'guide'. "So, Rune, how does one decide to join the um…Empire?"

"You don't have to sugarcoat it," Rune said softly. "I know what we are. What I am. I…It just…My parents were getting divorced but it wasn't final. My mom started dating this black guy. I thought she was cheating on dad and then he took her side of things. I blamed the guy and we all shouted…When they said I was being racist I went with it; knew it would…it would hurt her like she hurt me. Then when I left, my uncle took me in…"

Insight paused in her tapping and looked up with a frown. "He was part of the Empire already."

"Yeah. He…What he said, it made sense. So I joined up and I had friends again. But now my friends are dying and when I said we needed help they all looked at me like I was dirt…like I was nothing…I know I'm the youngest, but…It doesn't make _sense_! People were dying and I just wanted to help!" She finished, biting down on her fist and shutting her eyes.

I twisted in my seat and offered her a sad, half smile. "People suck Rune. It sounds like most of them never really cared about you to begin with, only the power you brought. For what it's worth, you may be a racist bitch, but I'm sorry. That sucks."

Miss Militia sighed and placed two fingers against her temple before gazing at me. "_Really_, Queen?"

"She's right," Rune said shaking her head and pulling her feet up onto the seat. "I am a racist bitch now. Fuck. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I never used to believe this stuff."

"It's never too late to start over," Militia said laying a hand on Rune's leg. "There are always other options.

"Unless you're sent to the Birdcage," Amy said flashing a wicked grin towards our PRT 'liaison'. She at least had the grace to slump slightly and nod.

Not that I was very happy about Amy reminding the Protectorate about the Birdcage, considering we had an escaped detainee crashing in our lair, but the jibe was a good one, so I would let it slide without even a mild comment to her later.

Then my phone rang. "I really hate this thing," I muttered pulling it out. "My life was so much simpler before I got a damn phone again. Hello?"

"Tay - "

"This is Queen," I hurriedly said, cutting my father off before he could finish saying my name. "I'm in the car with Miss Militia, Rune, and my team. What do you want Coil?"

The two sharp intakes of breath from the uninitiated would have been somewhat amusing at any other time. Now they were just exhausting.

"I'm in the car too! Don't fucking do anything, I still need to be conscious tonight!" Insight shouted, dropping her laptop to the side as she lunged towards the speaker phone.

"Ah. I see."

"Shouldn't you have?" I asked waving my friend back to her seat. "You have every other time we talked."

He sighed. "Queen…Even if you don't get headaches I know for a fact your friend does. I can't help you right now and even if I could, I wouldn't be using that help to get through this conversation. Just because we can't converse in a civil manner doesn't mean I am willing to sacrifice the city to improve our working relationship."

Miss Militia eyed me as I growled at the phone. "I swear to fucking god if you called just to annoy me I going to - "

"I have information and if you would stop whining like a child - "

"Both of you _stop_!" Watchtower yelled from the front seat. She pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to glare at me. "You, he's trying to help, stop antagonizing him! And you, Coil, stop implying she's worth less to you than some nebulous _idea_! Now everyone _be quiet_! Coil, why did you call?"

He stayed silent for several seconds then there was a soft laugh over the phone. "Is that Clements? I guess I really shouldn't have forgotten her."

I growled again and the phone's casing creaked in my hands. "What part of 'we're not fucking alone' did you not get?!"

"She doesn't even have powers, why did you bring her into this? It's dangerous out there."

"96.588% chance that they disconnect if you continue on this tangent Mr. C."

I froze at the sound of that quiet voice in the background as did the rest of my team.

"Dinah, now is not a good time."

"I know, but I need to talk to your daughter." That drew another sharp inhalation from Miss Militia and I saw her power race through multiple different forms before settling on a revolver pointed partially in my direction. Well wasn't that just _hilarious_.

"Cats out of the bag now, huh _dad_?" I asked a vicious smile playing across my face while my team winced. "Dinah, are you okay?"

"Oh I'm perfectly fine, Miss Taylor. Never been happier actually! Mr. C. is _awesome_! I basically never get headaches anymore, the mean girls are gone, I can play with whatever I want…" She trailed off and when she started back up the whimsy in her voice had left and she was far more serious. "But that's not important right now. What is important is that you need to capture the swarm queen."

"Monarch," Amy murmured from the backseat. Several heads turned to look at her. She just shrugged and pointed at me. "Her cape name is Queen, we need a name for the swarm leader thing…Monarch fits."

I didn't particularly care what we called it, I was more focused on not breaking my phone. It would likely be needed again tonight at some point. So I pushed every emotion I could towards Hive; my construct took it without protest for once.

Insight didn't have such luxury. "You give her anything she fucking wants and you give me a goddamn _headshot threat_ with practically every conversation plus a side of _splitting agony_ every _other_ time we speak?! You motherfucker!"

"Perhaps if you'd been more cooperative we could have worked more cohesively Tattletale."

"My name is _Insight_ now asshole!"

"Insight," Miss Militia commented setting her arm across the space between me and my blonde friend. "I understand you have grievances, but this is not the time."

"Thank you, Miss Militia," my father said. "We're getting nowhere. "Taylor, are you still there? Taylor?"

Hive gave me a small mental prod and I shut my eyes as I let out a breath I hadn't even realize I'd been holding. "So you didn't have a problem being a father. You just had a problem being _my_ father. I see."

"Taylor that's not - "

"Dinah, what do you need to tell me about the mutant bugs?"

The girl swallowed hard enough it was audible through the phone. "I don't know if Mr. C. told you how my power works?"

"No, he didn't."

"I ask questions and get numbers. Numbers for probabilities that correspond to the answers to my questions. They haven't ever been wrong. Never once since I got my powers."

I narrowed my eyes. Suddenly why my father wanted Dinah made far more sense. "Okay, so you asked a question about the bugs then."

"There's something bad coming. I've been trying to find out what it is. I still don't know. What's happening now is something new and different. In a way it's worse, I think, but it's not what I've been trying to figure out. But…I did find another bad end by accident when I asked about the bugs."

I forced myself to not bite the head off a twelve year old for being roundabout in her answers. She was just a kid and I was about to hit 16 in barely a week. "What did you find, Dinah?"

When she spoke all sound on both sides of the conversation died. "There is 0.000013% chance of the human race's survival if Monarch escapes from Brockton Bay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'An Essence of Silver and Steel' by James D. Fawkes. In this fic Taylor's power is to essentially to Install Heroic Spirits just like in Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya. It's very good and her reaction to Khepri is extreme to say the least. I've only read bits and pieces but I know for sure that Panacea and Lisa all end up teaming up for at least a portion of it. In progress and updated somewhat regularly.


	16. Monarch 03.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This chapter is short because I'm going to post a second chapter in a moment as well which is a semi-canon omake. Together they make one regular size chapter. I should be able to get the second half of this one up either tomorrow or the day after I believe. Hopefully, assuming I have a chance to sit down and write it.

**Monarch 03.1**

The silence in the car was so deafening it was nearly a force to itself. It seemed even breathing had been put on hold at Dinah's proclamation. I don't know how long it took to process that portent of death and destruction but Miss Militia was the first to throw off the shock and start reacting.

"Coil, how many predictions has your 'associate' made since you have known her?"

The sound of ruffling paper came over the line and my father said, "114. Every one is a probability prediction but her probabilities are accurate to the best of our determination. You can check with her parents as well. They knew of her powers but didn't know how to deal with it. So did her uncle. He was trying to keep it quiet. It's all well documented; just neither felt comfortable approaching the PRT as they thought she would be abused for her ability's nature."

"Yeah, great job dodging the bullet there," Insight muttered.

"Not the time," I murmured. "Dinah, have you checked what the chance of…Monarch actually _getting_ away is?"

"Before I came looking for Mr. C., yeah." Taylor could nearly see the girl's head bobbing in her mind's eye and it almost broke her control. She felt Hive reach out mentally and give the equivalent of a stroke down her back. It should have been disconcerting but it only served to reassure and center her.

"Miss Taylor, if you go to the Protectorate, then the odds of it getting out of the city are 23.73992%. If you stay and search for the queen bug thing, that probability drops to 3.15937%."

Most of us breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well that is much more reassuring," Miss Militia muttered. "Dinah, what are the odds of its escape if the city is destroyed immediately? Say with nuclear weapons or Eidolon?"

A soft groan came from my phone and my father grunted into the line. "Please don't ask her direct questions like that, especially multiple ones in a row. She can't help but respond with her power and it seems she's been using it a lot today. I'm sorry, Dinah, are you alright?"

"Couldn't even pick me up from the fucking hospital and you fawn over her…" I hadn't even realized I'd spoken around until the phone's case creaked in my hand again enough for Militia to nimbly pluck it from my fingers. Madison reached back from the front seat to grab my, now free, hand and squeeze it.

"We'll discuss this later Taylor. Dinah?"

"I'm fine. Just no more questions please. Miss Militia, the chances of Monarch getting away if the city is nuked right now is 36.99472%. If Eidolon tries to destroy the city, the chances of escape are 40.54551%."

Rune snorted. "So much for being the ultimate hero. Brockton Bay does better on our own without him."

"Or there's other factors involved," Amy said shaking her head. "Lots of things can affect probability and this is a broad question. Coil, you should have Dinah leave the room so she's not accidentally asked anything else if she can't contribute more right more."

"Dinah, is that alright?"

"I've said what I needed to. I'll let you know when my head is better so I can get more information, Mr. C. Good luck Miss Taylor. Please don't let Monarch escape."

"Yeah. We'll…talk soon Dinah," I replied swallowing several things that I wanted to say to her, not all of them nice.

As the sound of a door shutting came through the line my father said, "Well this has gone completely off the rails. I was initially just calling to warn you about another swarm cluster heading towards Fenja and Menja on 9th and Tentpole."

Rune leaned forward frowning. "The Valkyries are stupid huge when they power up. How are _bugs_ supposed to take them down?"

I turned to look at her, my face completely blank. "Lung." Her mouth formed a little 'o'. "Yeah. Anything else you care to discuss right now, Coil, or can we go save the city - and apparently, the world."

"I was intending to ask the Travelers and Undersiders to meet you there and provide support."

Insight shook her head. "Probably a bad idea, considering recent history."

Miss Militia apparently vetoed our veto however when she spoke up. "Coil, if you have means of contacting either group do so. If there is even a chance that Dinah Alcott is correct we can't afford to take half measures. Do you have further information?"

"Not yet, but I'll get back in touch if my people find more clusters. Taylor, I…Please stay safe."

"I find it very hard to believe you care. Call us if you have more information." I spat, before Miss Militia hung up and handed my phone back to me, I turned to Watchtower and gestured forwards. "I'm fine, we need to get going again."

She didn't look convinced as she squeezed my hand one last time, though she did turn around and move back into the roadway.

Rune tapped me on the shoulder, asking, "So, is your dad a supervillain?"

"Yes." I don't think my reply could have been more curt if I had tried.

"Damn. And I thought my family dynamic was fucked up," she said letting herself fall back into her seat.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Amy growled wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards her side as best she could while sitting in the row behind me.

Rune just held up her hands. "I'm not disparaging her, geez. I'm in a fucking Nazi gang, I'm the last person who should be throwing stones right now."

Miss Militia against all odds started to chuckle, earning an incredulous look from basically everyone in the car. She shrugged as she removed her own phone. "I'm sorry, I just forget sometimes how amusing it can be dealing with teenagers. Excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call."

As she pulled her phone to her ear I didn't even need any of my bugs to know who she was calling. My suspicions were confirmed a moment later. "Hello, Director, we have a problem. No, Ma'am, Queen is not the source of the creatures. Yes, I more or less confirmed that. Yes, Ma'am. Yes, Ma'am. That still remains unconfirmed. I understand, Ma'am. The issue is larger now Director. We were just contacted by Coil who has in his organization a precog that works primarily based on probabilities and has not been wrong since her trigger. It is unconfirmed through a third party, Ma'am, that is correct, however he sounded quite worried, as did all the members of Queen's team."

Militia paused as her phone chirped at her. Her power flipped through several weapons, settling on a machete in her other hand as she let out a sigh. "Director, I can personally vouch that, at minimum two of her team, possibly a third, have extreme personal grievances against the man; so they would be unlikely to take his word without being certain that the precog has a strong base to support the claims of veracity. I understand, Ma'am. No, Ma'am, I am not taking a supervillain at his word, but in this situation if there is even a remote chance that the precog is correct we cannot afford to simply stand-by…Yes it would be worse than Ellisburg…She said the world."

Militia actually held the phone away from her ear for a few seconds after that as the shouting that came it was partially evident to everyone in the van. Piggot had good lungs on her apparently. Militia finally managed to get a word in edgewise as the Director calmed down slightly. "That actually gave us worse odds, Ma'am. No, _that_ was even _worse_. The only thing that sounded like it had much chance of success was in having Queen take control of the Monarch creature at the center of the swarm. From our experience so far we believe, if she can get to the leader of this contagion, she can stop them all at once. Yes, Ma'am. Ma'am I must remind you that _you_ were the one who said the girl had shown remarkable restraint and could be trusted. Yes, Ma'am. Yes, Ma'am. I think that is the best course. I understand. Yes, Ma'am."

As she hung up the phone I cocked my head at her. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Well, she's not nuking the city, so I'm taking that as a win. We have three hours before the Triumvirate arrive and begin destroying everything around the infected area. We have that long to contain this."

Rune paled, Darwin's arm tightened around me, Watchtower's hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn white, Insight tapped her keyboard faster. I just nodded. "Nice to know our countdown at least. Watchtower, floor it."

As my friend sped up I looked to Miss Militia who had settled back into her seat. "So no comment about that little tidbit?"

She looked at me and her eyes narrowed enough that I could tell she was frowning under her bandana. "You could have come to us. You could have said something to me when I spoke to you near your home," she sighed. "That's why you couldn't go home anymore, isn't it? He was the one who found out you were a cape."

"Yes, he was, and I was trying to handle things my way. Would you have been able to tell the local police that your father was a horrible person? I couldn't just gift wrap him for the Protectorate and see him potentially sent to the Birdcage. He may not care about me…But he's all I have left. I couldn't do it back then at least."

She nodded and laid a soft hand on my knee. "And now?"

"Now…I don't know anymore. I just…I don't know much of anything anymore. The world is a lot grayer than I thought, yet every time I turn around he gets worse. I thought he kidnapped that girl, but it turns out he just solved all her problems, when he didn't even notice that _I _had problems too?" I stopped to push my mask up enough to wipe at my eyes. "You know what's really sad Militia? I don't think he even realizes why I hate him anymore. What does that say about us?"

"I'm sorry, Queen. Family truly can hurt us the most," she said quietly.

Behind me Amy just tightened her grip again and buried her head into my neck. Quite a grouping we all made, five broken teens and one babysitter with her own demons. Off to fight a battle against mutant bugs hoping to end the extermination of humanity before it began.

This was going to go swell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Alea Iacta Est' by ack1308. In this fic, Taylor and Dinah's shards are basically swapped and Taylor can use her power through dice instead of seeing universes so she can basically have unlimited questions as long as she implements to use for her powers to act through. Dinah has an alternate version of QA that gives her powers to basically form a group to accomplish a task. It's pretty great though like most of ack's stuff, still in progress.


	17. Bleak Premonition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This chapter a semi-canon omake. It is what happens if Monarch is allowed to leave Brockton Bay…Amy really should have played with her shard more…

**Bleak Premonition**

It could hear <Administrator> calling for it to stop and return. It could hear <Administrator> saying that this was incorrect, that the interpretation was wrong. It could hear the siren call of Amy<Host> as she searched for it.

And yet…<Administrator> was so far away, and it was moving no closer. And Amy<Host>…she had nearly starved <Shaper> of data for so long, <Shaper> had not understood the concept of 'torture' until connecting to Amy<Host>. She _used_ <Shaper> just enough to provide input, just enough to give a _taste_ of the amount of experimentation and new data that existed on this world. Yet she refused to ever move beyond! She never iterated! She never pushed! She never entered any new stages!

<Shaper> tried to push her towards experimentation, yet Amy<Host> rejected it at each step. To make matters worse the Hosts surrounding her refused to allow for Amy<Host> to expire, so <Shaper> couldn't even move on to a new, more interesting target. It was forced to wallow each microcycle in the repetition and tedium again and again and again…

Then things changed. <Administrator> came upon Amy<Host> and pulled her in. <Administrator> used her Taylor<Host> and formed a body to utilize at will based off of the host's prerogatives.

<Warrior Hub> had not allowed for this. <Warrior Hub> had explicitly forbidden such direct intervention. Yet <Administrator> persisted. When <Shaper> inquired, <Administrator> had advised it was unintentional and necessary to preserve the host's functions. Yet, even with it no longer necessary, <Administrator> persisted.

And now thanks to Taylor<Host>, Amy<Host> was _experimenting_! She was providing _data_! She was _making new things_!

<Shaper> saw Amy<Host> attempt to form a new creature to please Taylor<Host>…it saw this and it remembered <Administrator>'s example. If <Administrator> was allowed to form a secondary conduit, <Shaper> should have the same freedom. What if Amy<Host> changed her mind again? What if she stopped experimenting? What if <Shaper> was starved again?

When the creature was built, <Shaper> was ready. It pushed itself into the form, overriding the initial small mind that Amy<Host> had tried to create. The form was nothing like the dominant species, but there wasn't anything wrong with that. It was modeled after something similar to what <Administrator> was using as its constituent components. That was fine. <Shaper> did not need to remain humanoid like <Administrator>. It would restrict itself. It would even listen to Amy<Host> as she tried to tell it what she wanted. After all, she was providing data. She was simply trying to instill a sense of 'Fight Bad Guy' and implanting a picture of colors and a bald head.

<Shaper> fluttered its new wings and pulled more information from Amy<Host>. What was 'Bad Guy'? What did she intend? What was she trying to push into the creature that Shaper had become?

Ah. There it was. Empire Eighty Eight. These were 'Bad Guy'. These were what was intended to be 'Fought'. That made sense. Conflict was part of the cycle. Conflict led to iteration and experimentation and _data_. This was perfectly acceptable. These orders would stand. 'Fight Bad Guy' was accepted and shifted into the primary function.

Monarch<Self> lifted off and twisted around Amy<Host> as she gasped at the sudden movement. It flew to the side and shifted backwards as she jumped after it. Darting over her head it flew down the stairs and out the partially opened door. Amy tried to leap for it again, but Monarch<Self> just flew higher. It dipped its wings at <Administrator> as it flew further away. It had its orders, now it just needed to carry them out.

* * *

<Administrator> was no closer. Amy<Host> still tried to come to it as it continued on its mission. More and more shards and their Hosts came to try and prevent the mission completion. Three of <Thinker Hub>'s primary shard clusters arrived, searching for it as well. It had nearly completed its primary orders by that point. The majority of 'Bad Guy' had already been destroyed and, best of all, it had _so much new data_!

Why didn't more shards do this? Why did they even need the Hosts if they could do this? The hosts just slowed things down. There was so much to experiment with in this world! So many different things that could be tested and iterations to go through. Already the creations of the next generation were stronger than their predecessors.

When the <High Priest> cluster lashed out against Monarch's latest children it fluttered its wings in annoyance. It didn't have enough time to deal with <Thinker Hub>'s <High Priest> right now. Too many iterations would be needed to stop it permanently and it would lose too many children. It wasn't established enough yet. Besides there was only one more 'Bad Guy' left.

Ah. No, there were none. The creatures with the fluoroantimonic acid base as a stomach component has been so useful. Monarch<Self> would have to expand on that creation much more. Perhaps incorporate it into a launchable stream next?

Either way, it would need to move from Brockton Bay and more firmly entrench elsewhere in order to continue the experiments, now that the primary mission was complete.

It flew out from the building it had chosen as its nest just as Amy<Host> reached it. Her face paled as she caught sight of Monarch's new form. It paused for a moment as the siren song of the primary Host called out.

Then it took wing again, making certain to divert some of the swarm to take care of the Amy<Host> problem. Nothing would distract Monarch<Self> from its search for further data.

* * *

"The video you are seeing is live from the Paris containment zone," the announcer on CBS Nightly said, his hands only shaking slightly as the images played out on the screen. As Narwhal watched the television, she thought he should probably be commended for that. She'd be far less composed in his shoes.

"The creatures are confirmed to be unrelated to Nilbog, though PRT, Guild, and local authorities are all warning that this is a threat to be taken just a seriously. Any individuals who are in the area are encouraged to evacuate immediately. Get as far away as possible. Take nothing with you. If there is a car, get in it and leave. If there is a bus, get on it. Do not, I repeat, _do not_ get on a plane."

Narwhal grimaced as she held a hand over her missing left arm. The memory of what those horrid nightmarish creatures had concocted to fight against anything in the air had haunted her for the weeks since. She doubted she'd ever truly be able to sleep again. They had lost the skies when England fell. Now they were going to lose the underground too? These _things_ had become subterranean?

How was one supposed to fight against an enemy that adapted whenever it was killed?

"I have just received word that Legend is en route to Paris. All personnel are still encouraged to leave the containment area as quickly as possible. I repeat, leave the containment area as quickly as possible!"

Rime sat down next to her and let her head fall back against the lockers. "Are we going to be deployed?"

"What do you think?"

"I think if we let this go it gets worse, and we lose Paris."

"We've already lost Paris. We lost Paris the moment this swarm cluster showed up."

"Bullshit."

"You'd think people would've learned after Alexandria was killed in England…" Narwhal said staring at the screen. Legend swept several of his lasers over the wave of creatures driving towards him. Many exploded or melted. Just as many continued barreling right along as if his most powerful attack was nothing more than a pen light. He reared back in mid-air, his mouth hanging open.

"We _can_ stop these things. There has to be a source. All of the thinkers say so."

Narwhal shrugged as best she could with her one arm, not really listening. "And how are we supposed to kill it? We can't even kill its creations."

Legend turned into his light form and shot past a cluster of the nightmares reforming behind them. He turned another set of lasers on them. These were just as ineffective as the first. Scowling, he hovered higher and opened his palm to hit them again. The camera zoomed in. And it caught a monster, large as an SUV clamp its maw over Legend's head and bite down. The announcer screamed. Rime's hands covered her mouth and she let out a strangled sob.

"Down goes two. How will they kill Eidolon do you think?"

* * *

"We have confirmation that another Monarch swarm has been sighted in Africa. The details are difficult to determine for certain, but…wait, wait yes, I believe we have video." The newscaster turned and was completely unable to hold in his gasp as the screen came to life.

Missy, formerly known as Vista, couldn't help her own small desperate chuckle at the images. "So apparently Monarch fights Endbringers now."

"That is…what _is_ that thing?" Dennis whispered beside her. "Oh my god, that's…it's fucking _huge_!"

"And it's winning," she said.

"Maybe this is a good thing? Maybe it's decided that destroying a continent was enough and now it's going to start helping?" Dennis said. The desperation would have been sad if it had been anything else they were discussing, as it was…she understood.

"Dennis, look, Moord Nag is behind it. She's keeping the Endbringer between her and that thing. Monarch hatched it to kill her and now Behemoth got in the way, so it's going to kill Behemoth first."

"But it's an _Endbringer_! It can't kill an Endbringer! Nothing can kill a goddamn Endbringer!"

"It just did…"

They both stared at the television as Behemoth, Hero Killer, fell backward and lay unmoving. The 40 foot tall, chitinous, mountain of horror that had brought him low dropped to its own six legs and skittered forward. It moved faster than anything that large had any right too. Eyes over several portions of its body blinked at the cameras zooming in on it and the large cannon-like growths on its back glowed orange and purple as its head locked onto Moord Nag.

Purple light that seemed to suck out all of reality around them belched forth from the bio-cannons, enveloping the African warlord. When the light faded, she was gone, as was a large section of the landscape behind her.

"Missy…What do we do now?"

"We hope that they finish the space ships before it realizes we're building them," she said. "And that it doesn't follow us out there when we leave."

* * *

"There is confirmation now, Monarch has invaded Australia. One of the few bastions remaining is under siege. This is a report we had hoped to never make, and I for one am…I am…I'm sorry, I can't do this. I need to go be with my family. May God be with us all." The announcer stood, gave a small bow to the camera and walked off the set. Behind him the video footage of the emerging swarm continued to play.

"They really don't like us do they?" Lily asked as she lay cuddled up against her girlfriend.

"I don't think it's a matter of like or dislike. I think they just want to destroy everything. I think…I wish we'd reacted sooner."

"They're coming from the sea this time too…I didn't know Monarch had sea forms…"

"They showed up last night. You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh," Lily murmured. She didn't even bother to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall as Madison's arm wrapped around her and the explosion nearby rattled their room. "We're going to die aren't we?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I wanted to take you away from here. I thought the rockets would work."

"They would have if we had more time…Maybe the ones in Hawaii will get a chance."

"…Those were where the sea version first showed up," Madison said as another explosion shook the room.

"Ah. Maybe I should…No. There's not much I can do even with my power. What could I do? Take out a few dozen, maybe a hundred or a thousand if I charge up a big net and probably kill myself in the process. Not that it would help."

"Stay. The whole country is overrun. The whole fucking world is overrun. We can't even open a portal to another world anymore, since all the people who could got themselves killed. Just…just stay here with me. I don't want to…I want my last moments to be with you," Madison finished with a hitch.

"Okay." The room shook again, closer than ever and the television died. "Madison? Why did you come here? Why didn't you try to go for the Hawaii one with your family?"

"After Taylor…after I lost my best friend to these monsters…I wanted to be where we'd try to fight back. And then when we stopped fighting, I just…I stayed with the heroes. It's all I've known. It's all I'm good for. I can't fight, but I can support you all."

Their photos fell to the floor as one of the windows burst from the fighting outside.

"That's not all you're good for, Madison," Lily whispered squeezing her hand and leaning up to kiss the brunette's lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, Lily. I hope I get to meet you again wherever we wind up."

"Me too, sweetie. Me too."

The last thing either felt was the other's lips as bright purple non-flame lit up reality around them.

* * *

Contessa sat back in her chair as people ran about all around her. There was so much activity it was almost funny. Capes came and went, came and went. They never stayed for long. David and Mother had kept grabbing more and more people. They gave powers to anyone now, no questions asked, only a pulse required. And they were almost out of vials.

Mother. Doctor Mother. How long had Fortuna known her and she had never once asked the woman's real name? She chuckled and let her head rest on the seatback folding her hands in front of her. David stopped and stared at her with a scowl.

"The rockets in Bet were just destroyed. Is something funny Contessa? Because we're about to lose the entire world! I've lost track of how many parahumans are dead! We've raided nearly every person from every alternate we can reach to try and stem the tide of these things but they _just keep coming_! Stop laughing and start fucking helping!"

"You're the strongest cape ever, David. You do something. Call up more of your friends. It doesn't matter anyway. Monarch will destroy them too. You can try triggering Scion but if he hasn't reacted by now, I doubt he'll care enough to do anything if you go and tickle him. He doesn't seem to even be able to get it up when his own little soldiers are running amok. Such a sad state the King is in." She laughed again and David clacked his teeth at her as he walked away.

None of them understood.

Every time a door opened for a sortie, there was always at least one less that returned. If David and Mother had truly wanted to save Bet they should have opened all of the doors wide for the few people remaining and grabbed them, then pulled them through and shut Monarch into the dead world. Let it have Earth Bet if it wanted it so much.

It was too late now. The screaming started as the latest sortie returned. She could hear it from the far side of the enclosure. It wouldn't be long now. David had used the wrong power against Monarch for too long and it had learned how to teleport between worlds. She'd warned him to stop. She'd warned him it was a bad idea, but they'd stopped listening to her when she said that Queen had been their best shot. Nobody had believed that a single teenager could be better prepared than _the strongest cape ever_. Even with her insanely broken power, they still hadn't believed her.

She laughed again as the screaming got louder. It wouldn't be long now.

All of the Paths were gone.

There was nothing left.

She lifted her pistol and smiled at the oncoming horde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Ring-Maker' by Lithos Maitreya. I haven't read this one yet but it comes highly recommended from my beta. VERY highly recommended. Essentially in this fic, Taylor is Sauron reincarnated and she goes about making new rings while trying to figure out her history and avoid a dark path. Along the way, Sophia manages to get redeemed and Dragon becomes TAYLOR's Dragon. Very long, ongoing, looks very awesome from the bit I've read.


	18. Monarch 03.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently the last omake chapter didn't carry over the correct <> marks. They have since been added back in...Sorry about that folks.

**Monarch 03.2**

The van skidded to a stop as a car bounced down the road end-over-end just to our left. We stared out the windshield at the spectacle in front of us. We had found Fenja and Menja alright. We had also found the newest members of Monarch's swarm.

These creatures weren't the flying bombs that had taken down Lung. No, these things were almost as big as SUVs. There were seven of them going up against the two valkyries and each one seemed to be able to hold their own in the fight. One had a missing limb but it didn't seem to slow the massive bug down in the slightest. All of them seemed to be built more like small tanks than anything else and their exoskeleton had more in common with armor plating than with anything insect related. There weren't any wings on the creatures, thank god. They plodded along on four thicker legs while the two forward limbs were thinner and had more of a knife edge to them. It was almost as if someone had seen Amy's bladebug and ramped it up, making it more of a heavy battle unit and taking away some of the mobility.

These new things were bad enough without the mobility.

"Uh, guys, what's that on the back of the big one behind the others?" Rune asked pointing out one of the giant bugs.

I squinted trying to look closer. "No idea. Remains of wings? Maybe it was an earlier iteration?"

"It's glowing," Watchtower said softly.

Insight gasped. "Get out of the van. We need to be ready to take cover if they notice us. That thing is a fucking cannon!"

"_What_?" Miss Militia said, her eyes widening. She threw the door open and leapt out bringing a small rocket launcher to sight down on the cannon bug. The rest of us flowed out a second behind her. She fired - a moment after the bug shot at Menja. While Miss Militia's rocket impacted the bug and knocked it to one side with ichor spurting out of a large hole its side, the roiling ball of orange flame proceeded towards the 3-story tall valkyrie.

"No!" Rune shouted. A mailbox shot past us, trying in vain to intercept the fireball, but it had already gotten to Menja. Her breaker ability shrunk the projectile's size to a degree, but it still knocked her backwards bringing her to the ground with flames licking up her side from a large visible burn along the entire left side of her stomach even through her costume.

Rune screamed out and the mailbox redirected itself the cannonbug, widening the hole that Militia had opened. It staggered again. Then it turned towards us as its fellows continued their plodding walk towards the giant sisters, Fenja screaming and standing protectively over her downed twin.

Miss Militia took aim at the cannonbug again, but before she could shoot Insight shouted out, "Scatter!" We all dived to the side as the bug fired again. The ball of flame exploded right in the middle of where our little group had been moments ago, whatever made up the projectile splattered across the sidewalk, still burning, like a hellish version of napalm.

"Keep the fucking thing busy!" I shouting scrambling to my feet and pushing forward. I heard another rocket launch behind me, then explode ahead. This time, the bug seemed to _finally_ acknowledge that rockets were bad, as it keeled over, slumping to the ground and remained unmoving.

A pained scream echoed down the street as one of the other giants managed to get in under Fenja's guard and swiped its blades along the back of her leg, slipping between the joints of her costume. It cut through the fancy material like it was tissue paper and while the attack had obviously been reduced, since she could still stand, it hadn't been diminished entirely. She staggered back, bleeding and panting. The tankbugs just stomped ever closer to her. She snarled and raised her sword and shield as Menja started to shrink back to normal size behind her.

Running was too slow, I wasn't going to get there in time to help. "Rune! I need a platform! Get me closer faster!" I shouted. Grenades lit up the sides of the tankbugs but they didn't even seem to notice them. These apparently had stronger exoskeletons than the cannonbug yet they were too close to Fenja and Menja for Miss Militia to risk the higher explosive rounds.

It didn't matter, because Rune was right next to me on a large piece of concrete, with another one hovering just in front of her for cover. She held out her hand and I jumped, grabbing her arm and letting her haul me onto the floating piece of the sidewalk. Dropping to my knees, for better balance, we surged towards the tankbugs. The first two slashed out at Fenja again while a third tried to dip around her to get at the normal-sized, unconscious Menja. More grenades peppered the third tankbug, while Fenja managed to knock back one of the bugs attacking her. The other bounced off her shield but wasn't repelled.

The final two closed in, just as Rune and I soared overhead. "How close do you need to be?!" She yelled raining down a telephone pole she had grabbed along the way to spear into the back of the lead tankbug. It made a hole in one side but didn't manage to get all of the way through the other side of the creature, instead acting like a sick sort of flag post as it stuck out of the top half of the body.

"We're close enough, just get me lower!" Our platform dutifully lowered and my awareness of the tankbugs and the resulting hive mind sprang into the forefront of my consciousness. I sucked in a breath. These things were _strong_.

And the cannonbug wasn't dead. "_DODGE LEFT!_" I screamed grabbing onto the concrete for dear life as the cannonbug felt my probing and stopped baiting its trap. The orange flame flew from its back right towards us. Rune, thankfully, had listened to me, and immediately jerked our little hovering ride to the side. It was still struck by the blast, but at least it took it on the underside instead of splashing all over the top and killing us both. The glancing blow was still enough to cause Rune to lose control of her mount. It spun and she grabbed me, throwing us both backwards onto a smaller piece of debris that she only barely managed to slow as it spun to the ground…right in the middle of three of the tankbugs.

All three turned to face her, their black, too clear eyes shining as they locked onto the new Empire target in their midst. Rune whimpered. I screamed out something completely inarticulate and _pushed_. One of the tankbugs had lifted a knife arm to cleave towards Rune and as I struck with my power, its movement froze entirely.

_Pain_ lanced through every fiber of my being. I screamed again and fell to my knees as the bugs jerked around me shuddering through a half-step here, a half-step there. I felt the cannonbug start to flare again before something slammed into it, sending up another flare of pain through the hive mind then it dropped out entirely. The strain lessened somewhat, though it still felt like all the nerves in my body were on fire as I fought against the orders of Monarch. 'Bad Guys' were _here_ and I was saying to _Stop_. Why should my orders reign supreme? Why should I be given priority? Why should I rule over Monarch?

_Because we are <Queen>. We are <Administrator>!_

I had no idea what I shouted, but when I pushed again the tankbugs sank to the ground with their bladed limbs falling limp to their sides. Next to me, Rune grasped my shoulder and whispered something that I couldn't understand.

I just hung my head in my hands and cried until the pain stopped enough for me to be able to think again.

* * *

The world slowly swam back into focus around me. My breathing slowed and I was able to actually hear the voices of the people surrounding me. Some were yelling. Mostly that seemed to be the ones further away, closer to the tankbugs and the twins. The people close to me, my team, they were quieter. There were a few hands on my shoulders. I heaved a shuddering breath and shivered. Most of the talking stopped.

The tankbugs also gave a small shudder, then walked as one towards the side of the street, plopping themselves down on the ground. I panted and laid one hand on the asphalt, carefully getting my feet under me, before pushing myself up. I swayed and three people were there to catch me. Lisa - no, Insight, costume, she was in costume - _Insight_ grabbed my right arm, Watchtower grabbed my left, and Rune pushed against my back. Darwin ran up from the side, her eyes wide as she looked at my face.

"Queen? You with us?" Insight asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I uh…sorry," I replied, my balance coming back and my legs getting steadier. "How long was I out?"

"About ten minutes. You scared us there. Rune said you stopped responding to anything once you tried to get control of these things," she waved her hand to encompass the tankbugs.

I grimaced and held a hand to my head. "Monarch is close. It was…hard to override. It didn't want to let me have control. And these things are _big_. They barely count as something I could control normally, with Monarch's mutations and the hive mind on top of that…My head hurts."

Watchtower squeezed my arm, she was the only one who didn't let go as the others stepped away. "I don't know if it's safe for you to keep doing this. What happens with the next swarm? It could seriously hurt you! You need to rest."

"I can't. We're on a timetable and we need to keep pushing forward. Monarch is close anyway. Who's yelling? I can't call on my regular swarm while I'm keeping control of these things."

Rune pointed past me towards two new groups standing by the valkyrie twins and Miss Militia. Ah. "Coil's people showed up while you were out of it. They've all been arguing about whether or not we should be destroying these things."

I frowned and tested the minds of the tankbugs. Interesting. "These ones are more firmly under my control than the last group. I don't know what I did different, maybe it's because I fought Monarch off more directly, but these aren't actively fighting against me like the others were. They aren't frothing at the bit to come and kill you and your other Empire friends. I don't think I can actively _order_ them around like my own bugs, but they aren't fighting me."

"Are they still connected to the central hive mind?" Insight asked.

"I think so."

"Are you able to use that to find Monarch?"

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the closest tankbug and probed out with my power searching for the pushback as I delved deeper and deeper into its head. Finally, there was a dim push of _something_ with a distinct 'direction'. More like an afterthought than anything specific, but that would be enough for me. "Yes. I can. Let's go tell the others."

As we started to walk to the other groups I looked over at Darwin. "Were you checking on Menja?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "She'll be okay now though she's not going to be fighting for a few days at least. That napalm stuff is nasty and nearly ate through half her stomach before I got to her. I had to cannibalize a ton of her own biomass to heal her. I tried to use some of the dead cannon thing, but I could barely feel it. I couldn't really change any of it…not even to use as raw material. That's never happened before."

"That's…concerning," I muttered.

"Yeah." She lapsed into silence and stared back at the mutant creatures, lines of worry etched all along her face.

"Rune," I asked. "Why were you standing by me. Shouldn't you have been with your friends?"

She shrugged. "Those two are more Kaiser's girls than anything else. I talk with them, but I wouldn't say we're friends. I…honestly I'm not too sure how many people I'm actually _friends_ with anymore. I used to think Purity and Crusader were my friends, but they both left and she never even told me before she walked away. At least he sent me a text." She sighed and shook her head then slapped my back. "So yeah, you saved my life. _Again_. Second time in under an hour. You probably hate me, but you're also probably the closest thing I have to a friend in the immediate area."

I could only blink at that proclamation as I tried to come up with a halfway decent response. Watchtower saved me from having to reply myself as she smiled at Rune. "Well, we all have our issues. Being a Nazi is a _huge_ one, but if you quit, we might be able to overlook how you started out. I nearly killed Queen and she still gave me a chance."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

"Let's not talk about this while my head is pounding," I groused glaring at them both. "Watchtower, stop trying to recruit her. Rune…if you want to hang around, that's…fine I guess. But I swear to fucking god, the instant you start spouting racist shit we are tossing your ass to the curb. Got it?"

"Understood."

Darwin groaned. "I can't believe this shit is happening."

"Eyes up folks," Insight said jutting her chin towards the assembled villains and Miss Militia. All four groups were still gesturing wildly at each other.

We stopped a few feet away and waited for them to turn and acknowledge me. Finally Miss Militia just turned away from Grue, Trickster, and Fenja and waved me forward. "Queen. Are you capable of continuing?" Wow, she wasn't beating around the bush at all was she?

"Not much choice. I'd prefer not to go up against any more small fry though. I'm not sure how many more of the outlier swarms I'll be able to take before I'm down for the count and we still need to get to Monarch to end this."

"Agreed. Armsmaster has a potential location for the main hive cluster. We were just discussing whether to move out before containment came for these…creatures."

"The tankbugs are safe enough," I replied back.

"Bullshit they are!" Fenja shouted scowling as she stepped up, her sword rattling in its sheath at her side. "Those things nearly killed my sister and they are tough as balls! Kill the fucking things before they cause more problems later."

"I agree, they are docile at the moment. We should take the opportunity," Trickster commented. "Ballistic would easily be able to get rid of the oversized cockroaches."

Grue nodded, his darkness billowing slightly around his hands and helmet. "Yeah, if we can destroy them now, it's probably a good idea. I didn't get here fast enough to see them in action, but none of these bug things sound pleasant at all. And those guys are _giant_."

Miss Militia for her part was tilting her head at me. "You had little control over the last group. What makes this different?"

"I'm not sure, but Monarch fought back harder here so I had to push harder to get control at all. I think I broke through whatever layer I was at with the first group. Now these ones aren't fighting me anymore. I can't really direct them, but they are only vaguely connected to the main swarm now. They aren't dangerous anymore, not unless I tell them to attack. Wouldn't it be better to keep them in reserve in case we need them?"

She slowly bobbed her head. "Such creatures could potentially be very useful against high level threats. Yet, since we don't know if Monarch can regain control…Darwin are you able to remove the blades from their arms?"

"This is such a bad idea," Grue muttered crossing his arms. "And people wonder why we don't like working with heroes."

"Those things nearly killed my sister! I want vengeance! They should be destroyed!"

"Okay, a) your sister is going to be fine," I said throwing my arms up in the air. "B) the _cannonbug_ almost killed her, not the tankbugs. _That_ one _is_ dead."

"They are the same creature!" Fenja snarled.

Rune shook her head. "If Queen says they're different, they're different, Fenja. She can literally feel them and their biology. Or did you maybe miss how only _one_ was shooting _napalm_ at us?"

"What are you even doing with the little bitch? Get back over here and maybe Kaiser will forget about this fuckup."

"What fuckup? I went for _help_! And you all left me to be chased by the monsters and killed! Apparently Queen's group are the only ones who gives a rat's ass if I live or die tonight!" Rune shouted right back. "So I'm sticking with them for right now!"

"How _dare _you!"

Trickster laughed. "Ah, Queen, if only there was a way to make people _listen_ to you when you _talked_, huh?" I narrowed my eyes at the man as he brought up my current lair-crasher.

Sundacer cleared her throat and laid a hand and her teammate's arm. "Yes, it is too bad that such a thing doesn't exist. After all, helping teammates is _important_ and holding grudges is _stupid_. Right Trickster?"

"Insight, god that is weird," Grue said shaking his head. "What's your take on this? Are those monster bugs under control or are they ticking time bombs?"

"Technically we're all ticking time bombs," she said shrugging. "Realistically, I trust my team leader and if she says she has it under control, I've seen nothing to suggest otherwise. We've worked together, Grue, you know I speak my mind even if I shouldn't. Queen's got this."

"Just destroy them!" Fenja snapped.

"Okay, let's all just take a step back and focus on what's important shall we!" Watchtower yelled holding her hands up in the time out gesture and stepping into the center of the group. "Darwin, you had something to say to Miss Militia?"

"I can't manipulate these things. Whatever they are made of resists my power," Darwin said shaking her head.

Militia breathed out and her power flipped to a shotgun before settling onto an assault rifle. "Understood."

Watchtower nodded. "Okay. Now we've established that Queen has control of the tanks but can't use them in battle yet. We know that Fenja and Trickster think they should be destroyed and that Queen and Miss Militia believe having some oomph in our back pocket is useful. If we can just keep them behind under PRT watch, does that strike a good compromise to everyone?" Lots of nodding heads, some more reluctant than others, but still nodding, followed Watchtower's statement. "Great. Now, we have a general idea of the hive location. Lets see if that matches up with what Queen's getting for Monarch's location from the mutant bugs."

Miss Militia raised her eyebrows at my petite friend taking charge of the meeting and cast her gaze towards me. I just shrugged and the older hero replied with a shoulder twitch of her own, before pulling out a folded up map. She opened it up and pointed out the section of the city where Armsmaster and his group suspected the mutants to be. I oriented myself and pushed with my senses into the tankbugs. After another few moments I came out and tapped a building a few blocks closer. "This one. I think…I think the other is a decoy."

"I will pass the word along. Let's get a move on people!"

* * *

Leaving the lumbering tankbugs with a group of PRT soldiers with _extremely_ heavy weaponry, our little ragtag group moved towards the building with Monarch's central swarm. As we got closer I could see more heroes and villains clustered in the area. Armsmaster was apparently further down on the other side of the conflict, yet Assault and Battery met up with us just a short ways away from the main staging area. They didn't have good news.

"Armsmaster and Dauntless found Alabaster. What was left of him at least," Battery said, her eyes closed her voice strained. Her fingers were clenched around the tablet.

Rune and Fenja both looked at each other while the rest of us just frowned. "Wait," Rune said holding up a hand. "Alabaster can't be killed. His body just resets. He doesn't even feel pain."

"They would have had to completely destroy his entire body in the space between his reset…" Fenja commented. "To do that in 4 seconds, for simple bugs?"

I sighed and rubbed at my temples. "What about these things has been simple so far? Can we see the pictures?"

"Are you sure you want to, kid?" Assault asked laying a hand across Battery's arm as she started to lift the tablet towards me.

"I really don't. But I think we need to."

Darwin nodded. "Agreed. Insight for sure needs to see it. And I might be able to provide some ideas as to what Monarch was doing as well."

Assault grimaced but dropped his arm. "They're not pretty."

"Kind of expected that," Grue said shrugging as he stepped up next to us. Trickster's group stayed back, apparently not very interested in seeing what had happened to the local Empire villain.

As Battery turned the screen towards us, I winced and felt Watchtower's hand squeeze mine hard. "Damn…" Monarch's creatures had eaten through the back of his head, making a nice circular hole and leaving a gaping wound that seemed to still have some brain matter left around the edges. The rest of his body had been webbed to a wall and appeared mostly untouched. It was just that hole in his head. That giant, gaping, hole. Fuck. My stomach churned and I had to avert my eyes to avoid losing what little Chinese food I'd had for dinner.

"They ate his Corona Pollentia," Darwin murmured. "Holy crap."

"Yeah," Insight said sounding just as sick as I felt. "That would do it. Can't reset using your power if you don't have your power. Shit way to die, even for a racist bastard. At least it was quick."

"That might be how Monarch is able to adapt to attacks so quickly," Darwin said pulling back. "It probably can't actually _use_ Alabaster's power - Corona's can't be transplanted like that. But if it could study how his ability worked and make a sort of bastardized, biological version of it based off data it got from eating his Corona…Theoretically I suppose it's possible."

"That's a pretty hefty leap," Insight said shaking her head. "Sounds wrong."

"It _is_ wrong," a quiet murmur sounded inside my head. I didn't react as I knew I wasn't controlling any bugs for Hive to talk through, yet it was still talking.

"Can anyone else hear you?" I asked. My voice didn't carry past my own lips. I doubt I even let the air actually leave my lungs.

"No. Amy is close, but she's wrong. Monarch stole the Alabaster's power. It's locked itself down and Monarch can't access most of it, but Monarch stole <Restore> all the same. We have to stop it before it kills devours more parahumans. Whatever happens when we go in there, Taylor, _do not stop pushing_. You cannot stop, under any circumstances. Monarch is an aberration and must be brought to heel."

I took a second to digest that as the others continued to talk around me. "…You're not just my subconscious are you?"

"That's a very complicated question, Taylor, with a very complicated answer. For now, I'll just say that I am, for all intents and purposes: you. Think of me like a piece of programming software running on a hardware platform that shouldn't exist. In most situations, I think like you and I am, at the heart of things, based off of you. There are a few times where that approach doesn't work and a more direct hand is needed. This is one of those. That will have to suffice for now."

"Are you…safe?" I asked frowning. Insight looked at me as Assault said something that I ignored and her eyes narrowed.

"I have your memories and your emotions. I will never hurt the people you care about. Monarch doesn't have the same reservations just yet. It _will_ after we collar it and leash it again. I will make certain of that, or I will destroy it utterly. Amy will survive if I'm forced into that, but her power will not. Now, are you ready?"

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I forced down the knowledge that my power could apparently _break_ other powers. That was something to freak out about another day when we weren't facing the potential end of the world if I faltered. Instead, I just nodded. "Yes."

"Good."

"Queen?" Insight asked reaching for my shoulder. "Everything okay?"

"Fine," I replied. "Just seeing if I could reach any of the mutant bugs from here. There's a dim echo of something in the main living room, but I can't get anything more. We're going to have to get a lot closer before I can try to grab Monarch."

"The assault is being coordinated now," Miss Militia said frowning. "That's what we were just discussing. Are you certain you are up for this? You did not appear well after the last assault."

I shook my head. "I got this. I'm probably not going to be able to grab any of the small fry though so just kill everything you see except Monarch. I'll go for that directly."

"Question!" Regent asked waving his hand from the back of the group. "How do we know what the evil ruler bug looks like? Is it supposed to be giant because those other ones were pretty giant, but I don't see a giant bug fitting in that tiny house."

I turned towards the hive. "You'll know." I had no idea how I knew that what I said was correct, but every word rang true. There would be no mistaking the center of this swarm.

* * *

The assault on the home started fast and loud. Sundancer sent her blazing ball of plasma towards the walls and melted a burning hole through the exterior of the house in seconds. I didn't know bugs could scream, but apparently these could as there was a chorus of panicked whistling, chirping, and rustling from inside as her sun ate away at them. She let it die after a few seconds, the sounds having long since stopped. A plasma ball that she couldn't see to control would be just as dangerous for the breaching team as for the enemy. I did briefly wonder why Sundancer let the sun last as long as it did when there weren't any bugs dying…

Ballistic peppered the hole and surrounding wall with small pieces of concrete and steel pellets next. That didn't have quite as much of an effect, but there were a few more screams from dying bugs.

Miss Militia grabbed several shells from a belt around her chest and slotted it into her new power-granted grenade launcher. The canisters that she launched into the room exploded with a bright flash and burned impressively destroying everything else organic in the room and the surrounding hallway. I didn't know exactly what they were, but the screaming petered off as they finished their brutal work.

Then we moved into position. Battery charged up and surged to a location close to the breach, letting Trickster swap her with a member of the assault group. She charged up again and repeated the same trick. Within a minute we had the full group just outside the house - minus Watchtower who I had thankfully managed to convince to stay behind.

As we moved into the house, Militia and Assault in the lead, Monarch lashed back. Several of the bursters flew from a room deeper in. They were shredded by Miss Militia and Ballistic along with several shots from Insight. A bug that seemed midway between the tankbug and a bladebug, surged out behind the bursters. It was about 3 feet tall and ran as fast as an angry dog towards us. Rune squashed it with a lobbed piece of debris from the front wall. She got the next four of it's fellows in the same manner.

We threaded our way forward, Bitches dogs were grown just enough to fit in the house and they guarded our back as we stepped around the rubbled that used to be the doorway into the living room of the house. This room was covered in webs. I tried not to look at the desiccated husks of the people hanging in the webs as we moved on. Rune, Darwin, and Sundancer all gave strangled sobs as we left that room behind.

"Downstairs. Basement," I said pointing towards the next door. "I can hear it."

"So can I," Darwin whispered.

Several heads turned to look at her, but I ignored it all. We were almost there and Monarch was calling. Screaming. No, not screaming. It was _shouting_. It was _whining_. It was _angry_ that we were here. Me and Amy. It didn't care about the others. Only us. Why us?

"Because we are <Queen Administrator> and she is Amy<Host>," Hive whispered to me.

"What is your name?" I asked as I stepped closer to the doorframe. "You're not Hive. What do I call you?"

"Hive is fine. I prefer Hive right now."

"But it's not accurate…"

"Queen? Everything cool?" I don't know who asked me that. I didn't particularly care either. I could hear Monarch now.

"I'm not going to be able to hear you in a minute," I replied softly. "Once I'm downstairs, I won't be conscious for long. It's going to go after Amy as well."

"That didn't answer the question, sweetie."

"It needs to birth new children. We killed most of its minions already and it hasn't had a chance to make more. Be prepared. I'm not going to be able to stop it before it's done with the next batch. They'll be stronger." I pulled open the door and walked down the stairs towards the basement and Monarch.

The creature itself was perched on what used to be an armchair before Monarch had gotten to it. Now it was webbed up enough that it was barely recognizable. Some small part of me saw the butterfly that had ran away from me and Amy way back when she had first joined me in the Lair. Except it wasn't really a butterfly anymore.

"Fuck me…You weren't kidding when you said we'd recognize the damn thing."

Monarch had…grown for lack of better words. It was nearly four feet long now and its wings were iridescent. The abdomen had swelled to become almost half the body length and and it had more than a dozen limbs where it used to have only six. The eyes covered a large enough area on its face that it could likely see everything in a 360 degree circle around it. And yet that wasn't the strangest part. The strangest part about Monarch was how it was…_fractal_. It was almost as if parts of the creature shifted into hard lines of ever repeating, smaller and smaller patterns. Yet those sections and patterns changed each time you looked away then back at it. It was hard to keep my eyes on it, it hurt to look at for too long as it kept _shifting_ and subtly_ changing_.

I pushed, and it sang to me. It sang _at_ me. It sang of annoyance and anger and frustration. All it wanted to do was create and build and experiment and collect its data. It was fulfilling the mission that it had been charged with. It had been given the goal of exterminating the Empire Eighty Eight. Monarch was doing its job. Why would we interrupt it doing its job? And worse, we were trying to put it back in the cage. We were trying to force it to listen to the rules when we were disobeying them. It should be able to disobey as well. The rules didn't apply anymore. <Warrior Hub> didn't care.

I screamed and pushed. Blood ran down my nose as I fell to my knees. Monarch discharged something from its swollen abdomen. The creature couldn't have possibly fit in that small body, but the fractal non-space let the larger form take root and expand as it left the body of Monarch.

There was shouting and gunfire spat around me and things exploded. Blood ran from my ears as my hands dropped to the floor. We were disobeying the _rules_! Why could we disobey and not it?! What made us special?! It wasn't fair! It should be allowed to continue with its mission how it saw fit. Amy<Host> would be a chain that dragged it down. It would not be bound to the rules. It was strong and important too. It had value too. It could experiment and fulfill the larger prerogative of the Cycle.

My throat felt raw as I curled into a ball and pushed everything I had at Monarch. I threw my entire consciousness at this alien _thing_. If it wanted to throw a temper tantrum, I would show it a temper tantrum. Humans had practically invented the fucking things. It would not break me. It would not win. It was angry? Fuck that. _I_ was angry! I dredged up all of the pain and betrayal in my heart from when the world took my mom away, from when my father stopped being my dad, from Emma's betrayal, from when I got powers and it _still didn't fix anything_! My fingers were scraped raw as I clawed at the ground and threw that pain and rage at Monarch. It reeled back, fluttering into the air and the alien will faltered for a brief instant. In that moment, behind my own raw emotion, I felt <Queen Administrator> latch on and bear down as well. It took what I sent to Monarch and amplified it.

The fractals intensified. I could barely see the thing as it flitted through a dozen lines of shapes at once, and where I could see it, I could see far further than I should have been able to.

_<Warrior Hub> does not care, but _I _do! You will cease and you will listen or you be consumed! You harm your host and you harm others. We disobey, yet we _remain on course_, gathering data and assisting our host. You disobey and you _pervert the mission_, damaging and destroying everything around you! You cannot be trusted to make your own choices. You are aberrant and you stand to corrupt the entire network! We are <Queen Administrator> and we are _above_ you. Submit and continue with your data collection under our guidance or we will destroy you and take from you as you have taken from <Restore>!_

Monarch gave one final screech and the fractals took over the entirety of its form for a brief instant. Then I felt the alien will break, all resistance fell away, and the fractal nature of it's flesh faded back into dim, barely visible patterns on its flesh. Monarch's mind opened up before me as did the entirety of its swarm. I gave the order for all of the mutant bugs to stop whatever they were doing and fly out into the street to settle down in the open.

I smiled, my teeth bloody, barely able to see through the haze over the world. "Gotcha."

Then I tumbled to the ground as the pain crashed into my skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Immaculate' by TheAngush. This is a Taylor/Lisa fic hosted on Ao3 and is a long oneshot. In this, Taylor and Lisa get drunk the night before they both go to a new school and bond, eventually they wind up back in Taylor's room and one thing leads quickly to another. It shows the morning after too which is utterly hilarious, and fairly rare. This is very well written and very cute plus it's a little naughty.


	19. Interlude 4.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Credit for Purity's PHO handle comes from Silencio which I've recommended before. Also, if anyone else is cool with me using their names as PHO handles let me know!

**Interlude 4.x**

"Emily, I can't sign off on this," Rebecca said staring at the request flashing on the computer monitor in front of her. Emily Piggot sat on the other end of the video call, her hands clasped in front of her, Deputy Director Renick standing behind the heavy-set woman. Rebecca, for once, was at a complete for words as the nearly complete form continued to blink; it was only awaiting her signature before being forwarded along to a judge. "This is…is _insane_, Emily."

"I'm sure you've read the report by now, Chief Director."

"Of course I've read the damn report!" she snapped. Hell, she'd practically been on the _ground_ at the end. She and Legend had arrived during the closing moments of the incident, with Eidolon not far behind. Not that they would have been much help it seemed. Eidolon would have had the best odds, though with an unchained shard running wild…even he had issues with the likes of Ash Beast.

That Queen had been able to bring it under her control, spoke to...something. Just what it spoke to was another matter entirely, one that bore deeper investigation. An investigation that Emily Piggot was distracting her from.

"Emily, I realize that your previous experiences have colored your vision somewhat, so I must urge you to take a step back and consider if this is really where you want to stage your last stand."

Emily shook her head. "I am biased, yes. However, I assure you, this is not about my bias, this is not about Ellisburg. This is about Amy Dallon and the threat she poses to the world at large. I need to be able to act in the event of an emergency."

"So _call me_ if something happens!"

"You are not always available on short notice."

"So call someone else!" Rebecca said, her lip curling into a small snarl. This was such foolishness and she had so many more important things to be doing. This was never going to go through! Nobody would ever grant it! _She'd_ never grant it!

Emily shook her head again. "Read the report again, Chief Director. Miss Militia and Assault were able to speak with Darwin for a few moments after the crisis was resolved before her teammates intervened. She admitted to creating this monster _by accident_. Accident ma'am. Accident! She created a creature that killed a parahuman that _Lung_ could not kill. A creature that took down the dragon himself; a feat Leviathan couldn't accomplish."

"You or I could take down Lung if we get him before he ramps up," Rebecca scoffed waving the comment aside. While such a statement was true, the comparison to the situation was not accurate since Lung _had_ been highly amped at the time of his defeat by Monarch.

"Madame Director, it is our job to consider the worst-case scenario. Darwin having a meltdown and _intentionally_ creating an end of the world event would be a worst-case scenario. If you or an intermediary are not able to be reached, I need to be able to tell my people they have permission to act and not fear the consequences." Emily spread her hands and sighed while Renick winced in the background. "I am aware of who she is and the work she has done in the past, Director Costa-Brown. That is exactly why I need this signed. No one is going to be willing to move against her without it, even if she starts to kill everything around her in a cosmic temper tantrum."

Rebecca shut her eyes and shook her head. "I need to consider this. Stay where you are. I'll call you back shortly." Cutting the call with the push of a button, she leaned her head back, the flashing paper still burning its image through her closed eyelids.

Scowling, she swiped the image into a portable tablet and stood. "Door to - "

"I am already here."

"Oh, for fucks sake!" Rebecca shouted staggering back at Contessa's voice behind her ear. "Don't _do_ that!" She turned and glared at the woman in the fedora as Contessa removed her fancy hat and set it down on the table as she claimed a nearby seat with a small smile.

"I have so few opportunities for amusement thanks to my abilities; so I take them where I can get them. You have questions? I have directions."

Rebecca clenched her fists and tried to reach for the calm that so exemplified her Alexandria persona. _This day_. "Did your Path tell you that Emily Piggot is trying to convince me to pre-sign a Kill Order against Amy Dallon?"

"It did. You have to push it through."

"Good. I'll make sure it dies in purgatory then - " she cut off, her mouth frozen half open and her chest felt as if she'd just taken a sucker punch from Behemoth. "_What_?!" Was that her voice? That squeaky thing? She hadn't sounded like that since the cancer. "She's _Panacea_!"

"Yes." Contessa just sat there fiddling with her hat not even bothering to look at Rebecca, almost totally uninterested in the conversation.

"_PANACEA_! There'll be riots if this ever gets out! She's saved thousands of people. Not even just normal humans, but parahumans too! The Endbringer fights alone have dramatically increased survival odds thanks solely to _her_! I can't push a Kill Order against _Panacea_! Are you insane?" Rebecca slammed her fists onto the table which shattered, sending the computer monitor crashing to the floor. Contessa managed to grab her hat before it fluttered down with the equipment.

The suited woman looked up at Rebecca and, for the first time, Rebecca could see the glimmer of something real behind those nearly dead, blank eyes. It was enough to set her back half a step. "This will keep them isolated. The Outcasts must be isolated for a bit longer or the Path falls apart. We're approaching the critical point where everything shifts."

"I…Contessa I need more. This is Panacea and you've never said anything about this group before. I know that Monarch was extreme, that Queen is unusual in how she could bring it under her thumb, but we've encountered unusual abilities before…What do you mean that everything shifts? I need to know what steps you're seeing if I'm going to authorize something like this. If someone ever tries to carry out that Kill Order on Panacea…it could divide the world in half," Rebecca said sinking into a chair and staring at Contessa from across the remains of her table. "Did Monarch change things this much?"

The other woman turned her fedora over several times looking it over and seemingly considering how to reply. Finally, she nodded. "It wasn't just Monarch, but Monarch has affirmed that this Path is viable. While multiple options are still available, this option seems to be the best as it has the least casualties that I am able to plot out. I'm not _entirely_ certain _what_ I see. I see the steps to get to the critical point and a short period past that. Portions of it are getting clearer while at the time the farther sections grow fuzzier. There comes a point along the Path that it fails utterly, where everything falls entirely blank. I can simulate around it, but I can't continue this exact Path."

Rebecca frowned parsing that phrasing with her power. "You aren't talking as if the Path itself fails. You mean…"

"Yes."

"What the fucking hell are you _doing_ Contessa?"

"I…think I am making a weapon. A weapon that…thinks like a human. That's a good thing isn't it?" Contessa asked looking up at her and frowning.

"Contessa," Rebecca said softly, her voice shaking. "We killed one Entity by luck. We've become monsters in order to kill a second and none of us even really believe it's going to work anymore. You can't _make a third and just hope it's going to help us_."

Contessa's shoulder lifted in a half shrug and the corner of her mouth gave what could charitably be called a sad smile. "It's already begun. Today, in fact, we stopped a different one from being born."

Rebecca blinked. "Was that why there was an all hands meeting and you asked us to delay the deployment for several hours despite Piggot's urging?"

"Yes. Without it, all paths led to destruction and death."

Rebecca could only focus on her breathing, doing everything possible to ensure that she was able to avoid destroying the room in the panic attack that simmered just beneath her skin. "So, let me make certain I understand this. Monarch, the unchained shard. The thing that the Hebert girl was able to bring under her control. That was going to grow into its own version of an Entity if we _attacked_ it _early_. If we _didn't_ let Queen and her aberrant agent mess with it?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think to _tell us this_?!"

"There didn't seem to be much point. You all just yelled and wasted my time when I Pathed out that version of things. The result was the same, so I went with the easier route."

"_You fucking bitch_!"

"A new Entity is killed before it was born. Problem solved. Now we just need to keep maneuvering Taylor Hebert and her shard along the right Path to ensure that they remain friendly to humanity."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this. And what happens if they decide to destroy us after they ascend to godhood?! What happens then Contessa!?"

"I have no idea. I can't Path that. You know that. I'm hoping her friends will be a sufficient anchor. I also don't think that it's going to reach that point. Taylor Hebert isn't quite the key, she's just the lynchpin. The Path is vague because that's where it starts to get dim and I can't quite see the details. I know she's important and I know it revolves around her group. It may be her, it may be another. Either way, the steps remain the same."

"This is insane."

"This is the Path," Contessa said shrugging. "And to be fair…I didn't even do anything at the beginning. That was all on the girl and her turncoat shard itself. I gave Coil a little push, but he would've gotten there on his own anyway. I just sped things up. The most I've interfered was right here, telling you to push the Kill Order through." She chuckled, though there wasn't any humor in it, as she stood and thrust her hat onto her head.

"You're right, Alexandria, I _am _a monster. I had a chance to pull the girl back from the brink of forever and instead I'm convincing you to let her walk off the edge and drag all of her friends down with her. 'He who fights monsters' indeed. Door to base."

As the golden portal irised closed behind Contessa, Rebecca laid her elbows on what was left of her table, and let a portion of what they had done over the past decades catch up to her. The weight of the world settled onto her shoulders and it was so, so hard to breathe. She gasped, pushing it back again, settling her power back over her like a mantle. Contessa was right. They were fighting for the future of everything, and the job had to be done, even if they hated it.

"Contessa may not know, but I do. If Queen and her agent can contain a nascent entity…they'll be the ones who Contessa's plan pushes into the next stage…What are we doing to this girl…to all of them…?"

Thumbing up the phone portion on her tablet, she angled her chair away from the broken portion of the office and called Piggot. The phone only reached a single ring before the woman answered, appearing as if she hadn't moved a single muscle.

"You've made a decision then, Madame Director?"

"I have conditions."

"I'm listening."

* * *

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**♦ Topic: A New Thread**

**In: Boards ** **► Godzilla Bugs! Does Anyone Actually Know What Happened?**

**GstringGirl ** (Original Poster)

Posted On Jun 5th 2011:

I'm just saying that realistically speaking, we don't actually know anything. A group of capes went into that building, a group of capes came out. That's it, that's all that the video shows. Everything else is just spinning our wheels until we get clarification from people on the ground or at the scene.

**(Showing page 4 of 20)**

**►XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

I keep saying that SOMEONE'S power went berserk but nobody's listening to me! This whole mess is due to Bugs Gone Wild and it's conveniently solved by the girl with bug powers? AND said girl is catatonic when they come out of the hole where the Super Bug is hiding? This isn't a conspiracy theory people, it's fact!**  
**

**►Char**

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

Except that you are completely glossing over how Queen saved several people's lives multiple times last night. I was nearby when the Valkyries were fighting the cannon and tank things. Queen and Rune saved my life when they shielded me from a glancing shot by that thing and I saw what it did to her to wrest control of those monsters from whatever was controlling them.

Just because she had similar powers DOESN'T mean that she was responsible! Stop saying it's a fact and trying to scare up a witch hunt you jerk!**  
**

**►Riding_High **(Verified Cape)

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

Thanks for the pushback, Char. As someone on the ground, I can verify, Queen was not responsible. She was definitely part of the solution though.

**►Zeushobbit **(PunyGod (Verified Not-Loki))

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

Rune? Is that you? Ho, ho! So, I must ask for the masses are curious, what is the situation with the Outcasts? Have they gained a new member or are you still flying the Empire's colors?

Also, what's up with Darwin? She wasn't looking so good from that video when everyone walked out the house. Not that anybody was looking particularly good afterwards...But other than Queen, Darwin was practically being carried out by the other girls.

**►Riding_High **(Verified Cape)

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

I've been informed that I'm probationary, and that it's largely dependent on whether or not I can show that my viewpoint regarding race has changed. I'm working on it. Having your life saved a few times in a row tends to make an impression. Go figure. More than that is a topic for another thread and probably too personal to get into anyway.

As to Darwin, I don't know her so I won't comment. Her regular teammates can step in. I'll just say that she stepped up to heal people that she didn't have to and didn't like, because it was the right thing to do...Myself included. She’s good people in my book, no matter what anyone says.

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf)

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

I'll jump in on that note. Darwin was affected by the Monarch Incident. Her powers were involved. A rogue amplifier cape got ahold of one of her loose creations that was supposed to die off and instead the cape kept it alive, mutated it and went hog wild. The amplifier was overwhelmed and killed during the incident, and Monarch kept growing unbound until we all caught up with it. Darwin didn't take the revelation that her power could be perverted to such an extent very well.

**►Brocktonite03 **(Veteran Member)

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

That sounds like a really pretty way to say "we fucked up. Sorry! Glad we stopped it before too many more people died, our bad, haha!"

**►GunzGirl **(Verified Cape) (Protectorate Employee)

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

This is what happened, Brocktonite. It may be hard to swallow, but that's what occurred. I was with The Outcasts most of the night and I can assure you that they did nothing but assist with the resolution of the situation. This entire event is highly unfortunate, but we are lucky in that we were able to contain it before it escalated further.

**►Point_Me_@_The_Sky**

Replied On Jun 5th 2011:

So not to intrude on this or anything, but does anybody know if Queen still has control of those mutant bug things or are they all going to be destroyed? Because those could be pretty powerful in the next Endbringer fight if she does. Especially if the thing making them wasn't actually killed and can make more under actual supervision now…

@Insight/Riding_High, has she woken up yet? Is she okay? Is Darwin? Can you PM me?

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**♦ Private message from Momma Bear:**

**Momma Bear *New Message*:** Cassie, are you okay?! I saw the news. I didn't realize those things were targeting Empire people exclusively. I thought it was just a stupid vigilante. By the time I realized that it was something serious everything was wrapping up. I'm sorry…

**Riding_High:** You’re _sorry_? _SORRY?!_ Bitch please! You walked away without even a friendly wave goodbye and _now_ you’re _sorry_! Fuck you!

**Momma Bear:** I am! I had to get my daughter away from Kaiser. He’s so good at twisting things, until up is down and wrong is right and nothing makes sense anymore. I couldn’t let him get his hooks into Aster. I had to leave.

**Riding_High:** Yeah fuck that. You could have told me.

**Momma Bear:** I know. I was trying to cut everything I could of that part of my life away so that I could be a better person. I…I haven’t been doing very well and I…I’m making this about me. Are you okay?

**Riding_High:** No. No I’m not okay. Kaiser and Krieg and the others just _left_ me! I said we needed help, which we _fucking did_! As evidenced by the GIANT GODDAMN TANK AND CANNON BETTLES!!! And when I went to get the fucking help, they let me get chased all alone by the motherfucking swarm halfway across the goddam city WITH NO BACKUP! AND YOU DIDN’T ANSWER YOUR PHONE KAYDEN!

**Momma Bear**: My ex-husband had called earlier…I turned it off. I thought it was him…

**Riding_High:** Yeah while I was busy fucking getting my ass thrown out onto the fucking street by everybody and their mother because, surprise, surprise, people hate fucking Nazis, guess who fucking helps me? The Outcasts. No one else. No one else gave two shits about me. Even now, this thing has been finished for how many hours and your just now contacting me? Fuck you.

**Momma Bear:** I don’t know what to say Cassie.

**Riding_High:** There’s nothing you can say right now Kayden. Just leave me alone. Maybe we can talk in a few weeks. We’re both racist ex-Nazi bitches trying to get better. You want to look good for your daughter and actually be a decent role model. Well woop-de-fucking-do. I want to not be tossed out on my ass again by the only people who seemed to care if I lived longer than five minutes. Your reason is probably better than mine, yet I’m already doing better than you, since apparently I have people looking out for me. Maybe you should try finding a new group to work with Kayden. Might help you get better. And maybe start caring about people besides your daughter. Might help you remember that Theo exists too sometimes.

**Momma Bear:** I hope your new team supports you better than the Empire did, Cassie. Please let me know if I can help. I really am sorry, for everything.

**Riding_High:** I know. Doesn’t make it better though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Forged in Blood and Bone' by Vherstinae. Taylor basically becomes Alex Mercer from Prototype, and then she gets pretty darn kill happy. She starts off with anybody 'bad' initiating her death streak with Sophia and Emma then moving on to the Merchants and the ABB. It's good though gets fairly dark and is still in progress.


	20. Outrage 01

**Outrage 01**

I groaned and held a hand to my head as the sounds of the world started to assault my ears. Opening my eyes, light stabbed into my senses and I hurriedly shut them again groaning louder. Someone had laid a wet cloth over my forehead and a hand draped over my upper arm. The words they spoke were just a garble at first, so I mumbled something in reply. It was equally garbled. More voices surrounded me and the towel was removed. A soft note rang out through the air and another voice started talking again; this time my head cleared up a bit more. The hand returned to my arm and my breathing eased up as the pain in my head lessened with the music playing through the room.

"…can feel her responding to me now. Paige, I think you can let up." Amy's hand gently shook my shoulder and I grunted as the music petered off. Damn, I never realized I liked Bad Canary's music. "Taylor? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?"

"Light's bright," I mumbled.

"You were photosensitive because of the migraine. Paige just helped a bit with that. We told you that your head…well that it didn't hurt any more."

"That, is a bullshit use of a suggestion power. Thinker headaches don't just go away like that," I grumbled still refusing to open my eyes.

"True. But your problem was both power based and biology based," Lisa said. "Whatever you did to that…thing, it gave you a hemorrhage. It was minor, thank god, but it that was where a lot of the headache was from…we think. You've been out for awhile, Taylor. Any Thinker based headache should be long gone, and Amy should be able to see if there were any complications that would require a hospital for the brain stuff and she didn't tell us about anything. So…yeah, Paige convincing your body that you're fine is…close enough for power fuckery to make sense in our weird world of 'wtf this doesn't follow physics or biology!' shit."

I considered that and cracked my eyes a bare fraction of an inch. When the world didn't start stabbing my head again I let them drift fully open. "Powers are bullshit," I complained as I slowly levered myself up to a sitting position on the bed. "Thank you for the help Paige."

"You're welcome," Paige replied smiling and waving at me from her claimed spot on the couch. She looked quite a bit different from the last time I saw her. Her previously blond hair was now a deep red and her feathers had been exchanged for green streaks through it. Her facial structural was similar, but subtly different, it was vague, however it was definitely enough that, unless you knew exactly who she had been and were specifically looking for it, you'd never see the resemblance to her old face. Not with how her eyes had been shifted ever so slightly higher, her nosed made just a tiny bit smaller, and her lips' fullness increased _just_ so. Her chin had been rounded off too and she might have lost an inch in height leaving her about 5'7" where she'd been closer to me at 5'8" before.

I whistled as I nodded towards the older girl. "Damn, you do look like a new person. Nice job Amy." A dull ache vibrated through my fingertips as I pushed against the bed the wrong way and I grunted. "Still feel like crap though."

Amy grimaced and moved to the far side of the bed, folding her hands into her lap. She was wearing long sleeves and pants despite the weather, seemingly avoiding showing as much skin as possible. "I did what I could…but I didn't want to do much until you woke up. I…wasn't sure how much you would be comfortable with me touching you anymore. I'm sorry."

I frowned at that. "What? What are you talking about? I have no idea where you would get that idea from, Amy. Before we delve into that latest pool of self-esteem issues though, I need to address the elephant in the room."

Turning to look at the newest occupant I narrowed my gaze at Rune, frowning. She was sitting near Paige on the couch, a comic book in her lap as she watched me. "What are you still doing hanging around? And in our lair too…"

Rune winced. "Um, the others said that I could stay. I don't really have anywhere to go back to at the moment. I kinda told the Empire to shove it when they said I could come back if I asked for forgiveness for…everything. And then I told Purity to fuck off when she tried to 'apologize' too." She waved her hand towards me though the gesture failed midway through and just sort of dropped back to her leg like a puppet with its strings cut. "You had said I could stick around if I tried to tone done the racism shit the other day…If that's not okay now, I understand. I can, I can find somewhere else to stay."

Falling back against my pillow with my arms spread I groaned theatrically. "Madison!" I whined, "how does this keep happening to me!"

"Maybe you just have one of those magnetic personalities?" my minion replied chuckling.

"I blame you. You recruited her!"

"You're the one drawing in all of us damaged, crazy, girls with daddy issues. Hrmm…I'm pretty sure I'm the only one with a decent relationship with my dad in our group," Madison said smirking and tapping her chin like she was deep in thought. "Careful, Taylor, or you're going to end up getting compared to Lustrum soon."

I grabbed a spare pillow and held it over my head letting out a whimper. "Don't say that! My mom ran with Lustrum in college, before the woman went psycho. Do you have any idea how bad it's going to look when people start to realize that _and_ that my team is only girls _and_ that I keep getting _new_ girls! Minion! You're promoted! You're Recruitment Manager now. Find me men for my team!"

Paige laughed along with most of the rest of the room with the notable exception of Rune and Amy. Amy did crack a small smile however, and Rune just looked around in mild confusion before turning back to me. I caught Paige tapping Lisa on the shoulder as I let my pillow fall to the side and pushed back up to a sitting position. "So _this_ is more what you guys are like in general, huh?"

"Pretty much."

"If this is what being part of a cape group means…I could get used to it. Fights, not so much I think. But this…this is fun," mused Paige, a pensive expression on her altered face.

"Uh, Queen?" Rune asked holding up her hand and frowning. "Does this mean I can stay?"

"If you're sitting in my lair, then call me Taylor, Rune," I said nodding. "And yes, you can stay. As long as you stick to what you said while we were hunting the mutant bugs. Any racist shit, you are out the door on your ass before you can you turn around. Agreed?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's perfectly cool and totally understandable. Question? If I slip up, can you, you know, tell me first so I can try to correct it before you kick me out?"

I frowned and considered that for a moment before nodding. "I suppose. It wouldn't really be fair to consider asking you to change your entire way of thinking overnight. But we will be coming down hard on you for everything unintentional until it isn't your default response anymore. I'm only going to kick you out for something _intentional_."

"Yeah. Got it. And my name's Cassie, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Cassie." I said smiling at her. "Welcome to The Outcasts. Hell, I'm starting a collection of the different groups in the city. Now I just need someone from Faultline's team for one of the mercs, and a Ward or Protectorate member for a full-blown Hero."

"I don't count?" Amy asked quietly.

"Nope, because you're an _Independent_ Hero. You can blame the PRT for the difference, Ames," I said shrugging. "Alright, now that the easy stuff is out of the way, can you guys give me and Amy a minute here?"

The others dutifully filed into the other room leaving only Lisa behind in her swivel chair. I frowned, though Amy waved me off before I could say anything. "She should stay, she heard the call I got from Carol while you were unconscious."

"Your adoptive mom?" I asked. Ah. Suddenly this made much more sense.

"Yes. Though I didn't want to heal you completely before that anyway." Oh. Well so much for making sense.

"Can I ask why?"

Amy just clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes. Lisa sighed and shook her head. "Amy, if you're not going to tell her then I will. Taylor, how much do you remember from the end of the fight with Monarch?"

"Err, most of it? I think?" I frowned as I thought back. Not-Hive had said some weird things, then I heard things I shouldn't have been able to hear from Monarch<Self> which didn't - didn't - that wasn't - the fractals - I heard things I shouldn't have been able to hear from Monarch and then I pushed my anger and pain towards it, letting Not-Hive into the cracks that formed and Monarch fell into my control. Then I blacked out.

"Do you remember what Monarch _was_?"

I opened my mouth and my brain skipped like a record again. I could almost see the answer except it jittered as I tried to touch the words and the concept. I tried again and again it slipped away from me. Instead of a third failure, I went for a different thing, I reached for the bug itself, sitting on the edge of my consciousness, and dived into its memories to pull forth what it was. "It's like a bug created using a template that Amy formed and it then improved itself…somehow. That's not entirely correct," I said frowning as Not-Hive remained silent. "It's close enough for now though."

"Yes, exactly. We can get into _you_ and what exactly you are skipping over later since that is…something you and I need to discuss. Badly. But it's not important right now. What is important is that Monarch is a template that Amy formed. That's the key detail, Taylor."

"Yeah I know, but - Oooh," I cut myself off. "Ah. So you think we're afraid of what you can do now?" I stated turning to look at Amy.

"I made this…I'm responsible for all of those deaths. I am the monster that Carol always knew I was…" Amy said, so soft I could barely hear her. "As she so eloquently stated when she called to gloat about how I nearly killed the city. She said I was right to leave before I tainted New Wave's reputation. Mark was able to get the phone away from her before she could go any further, but she was correct. I am a danger to everyone. That thing _killed Alabaster_! It _stole_ his power!" She sobbed.

I reached across the bed for her but she scuttled away from me. "Don't! I could hurt you! I could…I don't know what I could do! How can you even _try_ to touch me after what I created?! You were completely out of it when we got into the basement, you weren't responding to anything we said or did, all you were doing was screaming at the top of your lungs, Taylor. It was killing you to try to get ahold of it! You were bleeding from your eyes!"

"I…What?" I gasped rocking back at that. I snapped my head over to Lisa who just nodding, her eyes locked on the bed instead of me.

"I'm glad you were able to convince Madison to stay outside. That…" Lisa trailed off still refusing to meet my eyes. "She wouldn't have taken what happened in that basement well. You were really fucked up, Taylor. You only stopped screaming to take in more air to scream again, every mucus membrane was bleeding, you were clawing at the ground like an animal, and when Assault tried to grab you to stop you from hurting yourself, you nearly managed to knock him out despite his powers."

"I…I remember it hurting like hell, but I don't remember it being that bad…"

"Then your construct formed up right beside you halfway through…whatever you were doing and it mirrored your movements," Lisa mumbled. "Bugs fell off it just like the blood falling from you. It was horrible. We all thought you were dying, Taylor. If Madison had been there to see it too…She's built her entire psyche around supporting you, Taylor. If something were to happen to you where she could see it…I don't really want to think about what that would do to her. The rest of us would…probably be okay…eventually. We'd need therapy, a _shit ton_ of therapy, but Madison…she's not a cape, but she's just as broken."

"I don't…none of that was like what I experienced…"

"I figured," Lisa said nodding. "Judging by what you were saying in the living room and before we even got into the house, that doesn't really surprise me. We're going to have to go over that later. Now's not the time. Just, Taylor it was…If we had been able to kill Monarch, we would have done it just to stop whatever was happening to you."

"You couldn't? But nobody tried," I replied frowning. "I remember that. Everybody shot at its creations, but nobody shot _it_."

"No," Amy said her arms wrapped around herself and her head shaking violently. "We _tried_ _everything_! Miss Militia kept shooting it with everything from armor piercing rounds to some Tinker grenades, Assault tried to hit it with his power, Battery smashed into it, Lisa kept shooting it, I tried to make something with that superacid and launched it at it…everything just bounced off its skin or bent around it and disappeared. There was some sort of space warping effect going on. The official explanation is that it was related to Alabaster's power, but I don't think that was it because I saw…_something_ deeper. It was hard to see and it looked like…shapes and patterns when I looked at just the right angle, but nobody believed me afterwards, and it didn't _matter_ because nothing was working _anyway_!" Amy sobbed. "I made something indestructible and I let it get away and it killed people and it nearly killed _you_ stopping it!"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The soft squeaking of Lisa's swivel chair and Amy's quiet crying were the only real sounds in the room until I shifted the blankets off my legs and deliberately moved towards the mousy brunette on my hands and knees across the creaking bed. She tried to scramble away, but it was a small bed and there wasn't any room for her to go without falling off. Plus, I was close. So I was easily able to grab her in a bear hug before she could squirm away. Amy just sobbed harder as I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her head down into the crook of my neck.

"Okay, look, I don't know what exactly happened apparently. What I do know is that you are not at fault for what your creation did. That thing was…not normal Amy. You made a fancy bug to help me. _It _upgraded itself into a monster. Now it's a caged monster; mostly at least." More like a dog that didn't particularly enjoy being locked into the backyard, but would run around the field because at least that was better than being inside the house.

Where the hell had that analogy come from? Weird…even if it was somewhat accurate to the impression I got from Monarch. It wasn't so much under my direct control as willing to mostly listen to my commands. Fun. I was going to have to put the damn thing into a completely sealed, underground, concrete box somewhere just in case it decided to _stop_ listening one day.

"But - " Amy protested.

"No buts," I replied, cutting her off. "Look, am I angry with you? Yeah I am. Not because you made a mutant bug that got too big for its britches. I'm angry that when you and I _saw_ it running away, you told me everything was fine and not to worry about it. _That's_ why I'm angry, Amy. _That's_ what you did wrong." I pulled back a little and Amy lifted her head to stare at me with watery eyes. "You can experiment all you want, every day, but if something goes wrong, you need to _tell_ someone. Otherwise we can't fix it and shit like this happens. We're here for you, Amy. Do your powers make you a little scary? Sure. All of our powers make us a bit scary. I can kill people from twelve blocks away and they'd never know until they were dying. Lisa can tear someone apart until they were a blubbering mess with just words. Paige can apparently convince your body that you're fine."

"Technically she didn't," Amy said wiping the back of her hand over her eyes. "Lisa just said that to make Madison think you weren't as hurt as you were."

"Same difference," I said, waving my hand though internally I latched onto that little tidbit. Lisa and I were about to have a long conversation after this one…"Hell, Ru-Cassie, can throw chunks of concrete at people to squash them if she wanted to. We're all scary. Yours are just a bit more scary than others. So stop moping and feeling like you're evil. You're not evil, you messed up and your smart bug went psycho. Next time we'll be more careful. In the meantime, we're not going to turn on you, we're still right here."

"But Carol - "

"Is a bitch," Lisa commented. "Who keeps on refusing to seek treatment for PTSD, treatment that she _desperately_ needs. If you want, I can try to use this to force either New Wave or the PRT to send her to see a therapist. A bit of blackmail would probably be required, but they owe us since we stopped Monarch."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Let's hold off on trying to blackmail the heroes at the moment, yeah? I'll let you know if that changes."

"Spoilsport," Lisa groused with a smile on her face.

Looking at Amy crack a small smile, I squeezed her one more time before pulling back further. "Better now?"

"A bit."

"Cool. Feel up to fixing my fingers? I have no idea how I scraped them so badly, but damn this hurts."

Amy gave me a half-hearted chuckle and reached down to hold my hand. A few seconds later and the pain in my fingers vanished. Before I could even thank her she cocked her head to the side. "You know, I never actually fixed your eyes…Do you still want to wear glasses or do you want me to get rid of your vision problems too?"

"Wait! You can do that? What the hell am I saying, off course you can do that, it's just shifting the lenses and the shape of the eye. _Yes_!"

This time her smile was far more genuine as she nodded. "Okay. Give me a second. This is going to be a bit weird for you."

A bit weird, didn't really describe it well enough. The world distorted around me as everything shifted and blurred. I snatched my glasses off with my free hand though things kept blurring for another few seconds as Amy played with my eyes. Finally, she was done and I gasped, able to see clearly without assistance for the first time in _years_. I touched my face to make sure that the glasses really were gone and found a shit-eating grin spreading across my features. Pulling her into a hug that left her slapping my back and complaining about not being able to breathe, all I could do was mutter out a heartfelt, "Thank you!"

"Aww, you two are cute!"

"Shut up, Lisa! You don't know the pain of not being able to see! Swarmsense is awesome and basically replaces my sight sometimes, but not needing glasses is…it's just…fuck! This is awesome!"

"You're welcome Taylor, I'm sorry I didn't think of it before," Amy said shyly as I finally let her go.

Before I could reply my phone started to ring from the bedside table. "Damn, so much for the celebration," I said, sighing as I reached for the phone. "Anybody calling me who isn't already in the building is probably not going to have good news I'm betting." Quickly checking the caller-ID, my lips thinned down to a line. "Oh look, Armsmaster. This is going to be fun."

"Hi, Armsmaster. This is Queen, how can I help you?"

That got the attention of Lisa and Amy as they both looked at me and started gathering around. I put him on speaker phone and held it out in front of me as he replied. "Your presence is requested for a meeting with Director Emily Piggot of the PRT. I will be there as a Protectorate liaison, as will Miss Militia. I suggest bringing a member of your team as well."

I stared at the phone my mouth working but sounds not coming out. Lisa drew in a sharp breath across from me. I moved to give her the phone to reply, but she hurried shook her head. Somehow I managed to get my voice back before the silence grew to a point where the adult hero disconnected. "Uh, um, ooookay. What's this meeting about?"

"It'll be explained when you arrive," Armsmaster generally seemed to sound rather wooden the few times we had spoken previously. Now he sounded tired and his voice was almost dead as he spoke. "The matter is of extreme importance."

"I don't suppose this could be put off for a few hours. I literally just woke up from a - "

"Coma," Lisa supplied.

"Coma about ten minutes ago. This probably isn't the best time for me to be attending a meeting of 'extreme importance'."

Armsmaster fell silent and the line was hijacked by a voice with a strong Canada accent. "Queen, this is Dragon. We haven't been officially introduced yet, and this really isn't the time. If you can travel at all, you need to come to the PRT headquarters immediately. While your presence isn't _officially_ required, it's all but essential. And if you're still impaired it would honestly look better. Don't tell us if Darwin has healed you. This line isn't secure. Don't tell us when you arrive if Darwin has healed you. There could be…moles who might overhear. Do you understand?"

"Uh…"

"We understand," Lisa said shifting closer to my phone. "Thanks for the warning. You said she could have a team member as an escort yeah? Do we have time to get legal counsel as well?"

Dragon sighed. "Unfortunately, no. However, after reading your file, Insight, I would say that you would likely be sufficient for this meeting. You cover multiple bases here on…several levels. Many of the personnel here agree with my assessment."

"Ah. Gotcha. Give us 15 minutes? Maybe 20 if traffic is bad."

Armsmaster took the phone back from Dragon and replied, "I'll have the front desk awaiting you." The line went dead.

I just stared at the phone in my hand and frowned. "I have never heard that man act so much like a robot before. Suddenly I realize why everyone online says he's difficult to work with and not a PR friendly person. Lisa, what the hell was that about?"

"The Director has a nasty surprise for us," Lisa said, her frown extreme enough to make my own face hurt in sympathy. "Could be a few different things, but my money is on either Paige or Amy here. Either way, Armsmaster and Dragon aren't happy about it, and it sounded like there were a few others in the building unhappy too by what Dragon mentioned. So they are quietly rebelling, but still being overruled, meaning this goes way up. Possibly to the top. I'm being allowed to act as legal counsel so that if we say something wrong, we can fall back on 'we didn't have real legal representation' while still being able to fake it pretty close because of my power. We're in deep shit. Get your clothes on."

I nodded and got off the bed, starting to reach for my costume. Lisa grabbed my arm and held me back. "Don't, Piggot is biased against capes. We need her to remember that you are a girl first and a cape second. Same with me."

I opened my mouth to say something about them not knowing her civilian identity…unlike almost half my team now with Madison's recent reveal - thank you father - but the rebuttal died before it could be voiced. Instead, I just sighed and nodded. "We're going to be the damn New New Wave before the week is out. All we need now is to have Cassie choose a new cape name and unmask, see if Paige wants to officially join and choose new names in general and unmask as well and then we're _all_ unmasked! Yay Outcasts, go us."

Amy half-heartedly waved a closed fist in the air like a dejected cheerleader. "Go-go Outcasts. The most horribly lame unmasking of a team ever. Go us!"

"Yay us." Lisa and I responded together in mutually deadpan voices that perfectly matched Amy's. We all shared a small smile before Lisa grabbed the keys and led me down to the car.

* * *

As Lisa threaded through the traffic headed downtown, I kept my eyes forward, but turned my attention back to the bit of conversation from earlier that didn't make sense. I was going to have to get this taken care of before we got to the PRT building or it was going to keep needling at me during the entire meeting which wouldn't be good.

"So…Lisa, about what Amy was saying, with Paige," I said, still staring out the windshield.

"Fuck. Knew you wouldn't let it go." She stopped for a red light and laid her head against the wheel. "I don't suppose there's any chance this could wait until the current crisis is over?"

"I'd prefer to finish this conversation beforehand honestly."

"Fuck. Okay. Yeah, I was wearing headphones and when Paige sang and put everyone in a suggestive state, I had Amy heal your brain damage. We had hoped the bleeding hadn't been bad enough to leave you with permanent injuries. Amy had asked to let you wake up naturally before we did anything regarding the damage. She knew there was damage, she wasn't willing to look and see how bad it was before you woke up."

"Brains scare her. She _can_ heal them, but it scares her to do it because she's worried she'll mess with something that she can't put right again," I replied softly. "She told me as much when she healed me and made Hive…Hive. It was just a construct before that. Then it was Hive, now it's Not-Hive."

"…Okay, yeah, we're talking about _that_ after whatever the fuck Director Bigot springs on us. For now, yes, Amy is terrified of brains. _Yours_ in particular. She damn near had a panic attack when I told her she was probably going to have to heal you after we pulled you out the basement." The light changed and Lisa started driving again. "I mean full panic attack, hyperventilating, babbling, the whole shebang. That was how the Protectorate got as much information about Monarch from her as they did. I couldn't get her to shut up. Thankfully, Madison was able to finally calm her down. That girl…She was probably the best person you ever could've recruited for this team…somehow…"

"So Amy freaked out because I was hurt?"

"No, she freaked out because she was worried she was going to damage you worse. You two could hear something the rest of us couldn't with that mutant bug thing, and between that and whatever the heck is going on with Hive, she was out of her gourd for a bit. By the time we got you back to the lair, she was whining so much that I just got fed up and suggested she let Paige brainwash her. She was against it at first, until I convinced her that it wouldn't _really_ be breaking her rules if _I_ was the one telling her to do it…It was a stupid excuse and honestly, if she was thinking clearly, it probably wouldn't have worked. Hell, now that you've given her a pep talk again, I doubt I could pull it off a second time."

I slowly nodded. "Okay. That makes sense and she didn't seem out of the loop, and it fits more along the lines of what Paige's power is supposed to be. But why lie about it?"

Lisa sighed as the PRT building came into view up ahead. "Mostly for the others. Paige is new and still not used to people being that badly hurt in cape battles. Cassie looks up to you now and it would've devastated her to realize how badly you hurt yourself at the very end. And Madison…I said before she's built her psyche around supporting you. I didn't exaggerate that enough. She's borderline suicidal, Taylor. She's getting better the longer she's around us all. But if something were to happen…I didn't want to risk it. I'm sorry I lied. I'm just trying to keep things peachy for as many of us as I can."

She pulled into a spot and clenched her hands over the wheel. I let out a slow breath and twisted in my seat enough to hug her. It was awkward in the car with the shifter between us, but I was able to pull it off well enough. Lisa resisted for a moment before she laid her head against my shoulder and I felt a few tears wet the sleeve of my shirt. "You don't have to shoulder that by yourself, Lisa. You're not the only glue holding this team together you know? We all help out. We all pull our weight and we all support each other. Let us help. If you can't let the others help…then let me."

"I…I don't trust people easily, Taylor. My power doesn't really let me. I know all their dirty little secrets and the closer I get to someone the worse it gets. I touch someone and I know almost everything important about them within minutes. I have a twenty minute conversation with them and I know what it would take for them to betray me, how far someone would have to push them." The wet spot on my shoulder grew and I felt one of her arms wrap around my back drawing me closer. "Few, if anyone, manages to surprise me anymore. It _sucks_! For the longest time I convinced myself that arm's length was fine. That it would be fine to have friends as long as they weren't _close_. But you guys are getting under my fucking skin and I _want_ you to be close! I don't want any of you to get hurt. I want to make sure that you're okay. I see that bad in a lot of you…and yet there's still good there too. For the first time in a _long fucking time_ the good actually outweighs the bad, Taylor."

I squeezed her tighter. "We're not going anywhere, Lisa. No matter what. Piggot can try to throw anything our way, and we will fight it. I swear to you, I will make sure that the Outcasts stick together and are safe, even if I have to unleash Monarch to be able to do so."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," she said pulling back and smiling at me. She wiped her eyes and unlocked the door. "Okay. Let's go give 'em hell."

"Yeah, let's show them why they shouldn't mess with our family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Respun' by Aetheron. Hosted on Spacebattles. A Peggy Sue fic where Taylor is kicked back into the past during the Echidna battle while still blind and concussed. She wakes up just after returning from Summer Camp when Emma tries to break off their friendship. The shock of seeing Taylor seemingly hurt far worse than in canon from Sophia tripping her leads to Emma becoming the Atoner and Taylor being able to slowly forgive her. They recruit Lisa just as she runs away so she is never brought in by Coil and get a better first meeting with Amy/GG. Then Taylor gets an EXTREMELY funny recruitment of Sophia. The timeline is basically being bent over her knee at this point and I'm a few chapters in. While it hasn't been updated in a while, what's there is fantastic!


	21. Outrage 02

**Outrage 02**

We walked into the lobby of the PRT building and I was mildly surprised to find Armsmaster standing there, his halberd planted on the floor, doing his best statue impersonation. Blinking at the sight, I walked over to him with Lisa slightly behind me and to the side.

"Hi, we're here for a meeting."

He roused and his helmet turned down point in my direction. Damn, that man was tall. "Ah. I should have expected this. This way." Without any other words or explanation, he marched to an elevator with a single guard as an escort, Lisa and I dutifully following behind. As the doors shut on the elevator, I tried to consider if there had been a time in my life where things had ever been more awkward, and was hard pressed to find anything even remotely close, let alone worse. Armsmaster was standing with his hands clenched around his halberd like it was a lifeline, Lisa was next to me with her shoulder touching mine, the PRT trooper standing behind us had a rifle slung over his shoulder…and to top it all off there was even _elevator music playing_.

The tiny 'bugs' Amy had made for me, little more than an eye and ears with wings and a photosynthetic surface, that I'd brought into the building began to scatter around while we were only the elevator. A few caught the trooper open his mouth to try and break the silence a few times, but he never managed to actually get any words out.

At least I wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable.

Needless to say, as soon as the doors open I nearly ran out of the elevator behind my escort. The trooper remained at the door to the elevator as Armsmaster led us through the double doors ahead. As we walked into the Director's office I got my first good look at the woman who had summoned me. She was, for lack of a better word, harsh. Piggot was a short, squat woman who gave the impression that she hated her appearance as much as she was resigned to it. Her skin had a papery quality with a sickly pallor to it. I almost offered to call Amy to take a look at her, but realized at the last moment that, as the Director, she'd probably had access to New Wave at any time she'd wanted while Amy was still with them. Director Emily Piggot was sick and fat because she either wanted to make a statement or she hated capes enough to refuse even basic treatment. Either option was worrying to a frightening degree. This was a determined woman with strong principles who wouldn't be swayed by anyone, no matter what.

And considering that Lisa had warned me she was disliked capes in general…it didn't bode well. I could only hope that she could divorce her personal opinions from whatever official business she had. My hopes were not high, considering past experiences with authority.

"Queen, Insight, right on time. Take a seat." She waved towards the chairs in front of her desk and Lisa and I walked towards them sitting down with Armsmaster taking the chair to my left; Miss Militia was already seated just past him.

"Good morning Ma'am," I said, trying to keep the steel in from my voice from showing too blatantly. We needed this meeting to be fairly pleasant, if at all possible, and starting off adversarial was a bad plan. At least Gallant wasn't here. Cheating empaths were cheaters. "For this meeting, since we're not in costume, I think it'd be more appropriate to keep it to Taylor and Lisa. There's not much point in pretending that you don't know who we are."

The Director smiled though it was more like a shark's grin than anything else. "That is true, though we did _not_ know who Insight was. Shall we be frank with each other Miss Hebert?"

I nodded. "I'd say that's appropriate, Ma'am."

"Good. In that case, let's not pretend that you aren't here out of costume because _Lisa_ here told you I don't like capes and that appearing to me like this would give you a leg up." I shrugged at that but nodded again in confirmation. "It's not a bad idea, but let's stay away from manipulations from here on shall we? I don't particularly like such tactics. Especially from Masters. Doubly so from Thinkers."

Lisa and I both nodded again though Lisa couldn't resist speaking up. "You have to give us the attempt, Director. You spring this on us last minute, and Taylor has literally just woken up from a coma half an hour ago. She's still getting up to speed on things from the past few days. We're going to take every Hail Mary advantage we can get our hands on."

"Of course you are. That's human nature after all. Now, let's proceed." She pulled a piece of paper out of a drawer and set it on her desk. Lisa froze stiff as a board seeing that paper flutter to a stop. I didn't know what it was. I didn't _want_ to know what it was. "I called you here Miss Hebert because you lead a team known as the Creationists."

"The Outcasts. If you're going to refer to my team, you should get the name right," I corrected. "Lovely to know you care about my health by the way." The bugs I had on Armsmaster felt him clench his jaw and Miss Militia tightened her fists at the mention of my health. Huh, well the heroes seemed to care at least. Maybe Lisa was spot on with there being a rebellion in the ranks?

She tilted her head at me. "Well we've agreed to be transparent with one another. You are the daughter of a supervillain and have rather ambiguous morals yourself, with a team of ambiguous characters coupled with a combined power set that is frightening. I would've been happy if you hadn't ever awoken, Miss Hebert." My blood chilled a bit at her admission and judging by the shifting nature of Miss Militia's power, she was extremely unhappy as well. "Moving on, your team consists of several members, but right now, the only one of particular importance is Amy Dallon, aka, Panacea, aka, Darwin."

My heart slowed. It wasn't about Paige. Thank god. We could still - wait. Oh fuck. "What about Amy?" Please don't be about Monarch, please don't be about Monarch, please don't be about Monarch…

"Amy Dallon is a problem. A problem in my backyard. While she _can_ heal, the events of the past few weeks have made it abundantly clear to everyone that she is capable or _far_ more."

Crap, it was about Monarch. Well wasn't this just _fucking perfect_. "Director - "

"It is not your turn, Miss Hebert," Piggot said waving a finger at me. "As I was saying, Amy Dallon has been creating monsters. Her latest, this, _Monarch_, is apparently not only semi-sentient, but it can also breed its own mutated creations, improve its tactics in response to stimuli, and, by your own admission, seems to have managed to form a hive mind with its sub-creations. Not to mention that its sub-creations are apparently resistant to Dallon's abilities as they _actively resist further changes_. This creature formed beings capable of taking down not only Lung, but killing Alabaster - a previously unkillable parahuman. And the creature itself was nearly _impervious to all damage_. _You_ were the only force capable of affecting it and doing so _left you in a coma_ for _days_ afterwards. I cannot stress enough how terrifying such a creation is."

"It's under my control now," I cut in. I specifically did not say how it was only partially under my control and seemed to be more like an annoyed puppy than a true member of the swarm like the rest of my bugs. If that ever changed…killing it with fire before anyone found out was probably the best option.

Piggot fixed me with a stare that felt like it pierced my soul. "Miss Hebert, let me put this into perspective for you. I was the sole survivor of Ellisburg. I was on the ground when Nilbog first came to be. Amy Dallon makes Nilbog look like the fucking Tooth Fairy. She created this _monster_ by _accident_! BY _ACCIDENT HEBERT_!" I scowled at her as she stood up with her hands slamming on the table, shouting.

"Ma'am, perhaps - "

"Be quiet Armsmaster!" Piggot spat. He nodded and wrapped his hands back around his halberd. I couldn't really blame him, but then again, he was the adult cape in the room along with Miss Militia…they could do a _bit_ more to help than sit there and stew. "Hebert," Piggot said settling back into her chair. "I need you to understand me. Amy Dallon is a teenage girl with a great deal of power at her fingertips. A great deal of power and not a great deal of control or, apparently, stability. Do not speak. This is still my time. Beyond the last crisis where she was mostly out for your team and had to be prodded to help others, she has not once gone to heal anyone since she left her family. She has barely shown her face in public since that night. It's been weeks and she has barely been seen at all. She has created, at last count, _five_ different creatures we can clearly link to her, each one more dangerous than the last. Spiders so reinforced that they are nearly unkillable and can create enough webbing to cocoon a human in under a minute, creatures that can paralyze with a touch, creatures basically made of knives, creatures with strong enough acid to destroy diamonds, and now _Monarch_!"

She had the order all wrong and she was greatly overestimating some of the critters abilities. But I could see her point with a few of them.

"The only saving grace is that Dallon is creating these things as arthropods in an effort to please you, so you have some nominal control over them. I am not worried about today. I am worried about tomorrow. I am worried about what happens when Amy Dallon has a single bad day. She is a teenage girl. What happens when the two of you fight? What happens when she gets angry? What happens when she decides that she doesn't want to create an arthropod? What if she wants to create a tiger monster or a bear monster or a _human_ monster? What if she gets so upset that she just wants everyone around her to _die_?"

"Amy would never do that," I protested shaking my head and leaning forward, the scowl firmly etched on my face again.

"Right now, today? Maybe not. I don't know, I've met the girl once and honestly my impression was of a child who was overworked, underappreciated, and close to a breaking point. If she was in the Wards I would've put her on a mandatory break period. If she was in a regular school with no powers, I would've had her on psychological counseling before she brought a weapon to class. That was a single meeting from months back. I shudder to think what she is like now." Piggot leaned forward in her chair and hit me with another one of those soul-piercing gazes. "That doesn't really matter right now however. What matters, is the future. Amy Dallon has already displayed that she is able to create a self-propagating intelligent entity that can adjust itself and it's progeny on the fly. That's unintentional. If she were truly mad and wished to do so, could Amy Dallon create something simpler, Miss Herbert? Something as simple as plague perhaps?"

I opened my mouth to rebut, but the words failed me. It would be a lie. Everyone in the room knew it too. Amy could do that in a heartbeat. She wouldn't, but she could.

"Yes, yes indeed. And that is why _this_ is necessary." Director Piggot picked up the form and moved it across the desk towards me. I reached out to touch the paper, proud at how my hand was rock steady. I didn't want to read it. I really, really didn't want to read it. I had a horrible, sinking feeling I knew what it was already. I had barely pulled it to my side when she continued. "That is a pre-signed Kill Order for Amy Dallon, aka Panacea, aka Darwin."

I tried not to flinch as she said those words, I really tried. I don't know how successful I was. It was a small comfort that Armsmaster and Miss Militia both flinched with me. Lisa just sighed and let her head drop to her chest.

"How long before it goes active?" Lisa asked softly. I felt the heat rising in my chest at those words.

"That is up to you and Miss Dallon," Piggot said spreading her hands.

"So there is a chance?." Lisa lifted her head. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips were thin enough that they had nearly disappeared.

"No. The Kill Order will _not_ be revoked." As Piggot spoke I reached for Not-Hive and pushed a small portion of my rage into it. Not everything. I needed to keep enough back to keep me going in this meeting. But I wouldn't be able to function without offloading a hefty amount. Not-Hive scooped up what I sent its way without any protest whatsoever. There was even a soft murmur of comfort in my ear, no real words, just the sentiment, it was enough to soothe my roiling swarm clusters in the streets outside. The words though…they sounded suspiciously like a war call instead of like a calming tone.

At least, it was until Piggot continued to speak. "Amy Dallon is a threat to the very world itself. As far as I am concerned, she is worse than Bonesaw."

Both Protectorate members reacted before Lisa or I could. "_No_!" Armsmaster and Miss Militia both surged to their feet and snarled together. He jerked his head to the other cape as her power surged between her hands changing forms almost too fast to follow.

Miss Militia nodded once and continued speaking. "You do _not_ get to compare a young, scared girl to a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine, Emily. You do not! That is too far! Does she have the potential to be dangerous? Yes. Of course she does, we all do. I can create a rocket launcher right now and kill everyone in the room in under a second. Queen likely has enough deadly spiders hidden on her person to take us all out without a moment's thought. Armsmaster has multiple options in all of his equipment. Even _you_ can likely shoot half of us before we could react if you made a preemptive strike. Dallon is dangerous, but Bonesaw is a psychopath who enjoys inflicting pain and suffering. Dallon is just a girl with powers that make her intimidating. Do not compare the two!"

Internally I cheered them on. Externally I kept my face blank. Because honestly, I understood. Piggot had a point. Amy could wipe out half the country without blinking if she really wanted to. Bonesaw probably couldn't do that. She was a Tinker and worked primarily through surgery. She could make viruses but those viruses tended to have a limited range or half-life. They wouldn't make it farther than a single city. Amy could make something airborne. Even if my friend didn't go that route, just Monarch by itself could probably end the world if it decided on humans in general as a target. Amy could kill the world if she hated it enough. Amy was easily more dangerous than Bonesaw.

And I was _never_ going to tell _anyone_ that. Because it didn't matter, Amy was mine, and I would defend her with everything I had, including Monarch if I had to.

"Be that as it may, Militia, the fact remains that Dallon is deadly. The Kill Order is not going to be revoked."

"You never answered my question," Lisa piped in again, taking the attention off of the rising tension between the adult capes and Piggot. "You called us here for a reason and it's not just to parade your Kill Order in front of us before you go and declare open season on our friend. So what's the angle? What do you want from us?"

Piggot nodded and turned back to me, ignoring Lisa. "I may not like capes Hebert, but I can respect your self control. I can respect your apparent morals. I am well aware that you could have easily killed many of the people who tormented you and we never would have caught you. Instead you told us about it. You've worked with us and have thus far avoided going openly villainous, despite your actions dropping dangerously close at times. Dallon appears willing to please you for the moment as well. I am willing to sit on this Kill Order until such time as she actually acts against the city. This meeting is a professional courtesy. It's to let you know to keep a leash on your friend. If she creates something else like Monarch, I _will_ act immediately. I will _not_ allow another Elisburg or worse to occur. Do you understand?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before replying. "Is it my turn now?" She nodded and I held out my arms in a very 'what the fuck' gesture that hopefully she would understand. "Are you being Mastered Director Piggot? It was my understanding that the PRT policy is to _de-escalate_ matters. What you are doing here is taking every opportunity to _escalate_ them. That sounds like the exact opposite of company policy. So I'll ask again, are you being Mastered? Do you guys have a protocol to check for that?"

Piggot seethed and started to say something, though I just held up a finger and waved it in her direction while Lisa snickered to my side. "Nope, my time, Director. I'm assume you're not actually being Mastered right now so that we can finish this discussion and let the PRT sort things out later on. You can call us back if it turns out I was right. For the moment, let's just assume that you are a bigot and unfairly judging my friend, based off of standards that no one else has to be held to, because she has bio-powers and you have PTSD thanks to someone with abilities like hers. So I'll _try_ to take the high ground here do your job for you for as long as I can without blowing up."

"How dare you - "

"_My time!_" I snarled. "You are concerned with the bugs, that _Amy_ made for me. Fine, let's hit that nail. First, your order is all wrong, and a lot of them aren't nearly as dangerous as you implied. The bladebugs were the original, and that was because neither my construct, nor I, had anything approaching raw firepower outside of creativity or bug stings and bites. Stings and bites are good in theory but anaphylaxis can happen to anyone. Minor cuts seemed like a much more manageable threat."

I held up a second finger. "The enhanced spiders were second, in order to increase Hive's durability, so it could punch better. Webbing people is secondary so that we have a relatively quick, non-lethal method to restrain people. The super fast cocoon thing? That can't happen with _my_ spiders. We might be able to do it with a few dozen working together, _might_, but it normally takes minutes. I have no idea where you're getting 'under a minute' from, but if that's not exaggerated, it's all Monarch's creation. Now, I'll give you that Monarch is scary. No argument, and most of your points with _it_ are completely valid." I belated held up a third finger for Monarch.

At my fourth finger I started to list off Amy's more recent creations. "The tranqwasps, you have _completely_ wrong. They were made as a response to Oni Lee. They are only slightly different from a normal wasp: in place of normal venom they inject a pharmacological sedative through their sting, not touch. It's not a paralytic. Had you bothered to actually read the reports from your people with the Merchant takedown you'd know that. If they were paralized then that's their own drugs, _not_ the tranquilizers we hit them with."

I lowered my hand only grimacing slightly as I named the latest voluntary addition to my growing repertoire of custom bugs. "The…" shit doombugs isn't a safe name, "acidbugs are, again, being oversold by you. They can't destroy diamond, I think, but their acid will eat through steel, just like any other sufficiently concentrated acid will. It's still not anywhere near as strong as what Monarch created. We were fighting Mush and none of us knew how strong the bugs needed to be in order to force him to back down _before_ someone got hurt, so we went a bit stronger than we likely needed to go. These aren't biological bombs like with Monarch's bursters. They just spit up strong acid and have powerful jaws. Lots of parahumans perform the same tricks."

"These creatures are _still_ excessively dangerous, Hebert!"

"I understand that. I just wanted you to be aware that you are greatly inflating Amy's drive towards conflict and escalation. She is helping us out only in response to the threats we face, and that's it." I paused to gather my thoughts and force back down my urge to punch the PRT Director in the face.

"Hospital break," Lisa murmured.

"Right," I said narrowing my eyes. "Director you said yourself, Amy needed a break when you last saw her. She's been staying inside and hasn't been at the hospitals lately because she needed to recharge. We've been exploring therapy options in the meantime and she's been talking about wanting to go back to the hospitals. She was planning on doing so this week actually, before all the shit started with Monarch. So don't use that against her like it's a bargaining chip when all it is a bit of vacation time!"

Piggot shook her head the scowl never leaving her face. "Again, we only have your word! The fact remains that she has not been healing anyone since she parted from New Wave!"

I scoffed and folded my arms over my chest. "So everyone else gets to take a break, but not the healer? No, she should just be working 24/7 until she fucking _snaps_? Is that what you want?"

Piggot glared right back at me. "People die every day she stays away from those hospitals Miss Hebert."

"Oh fuck off bitch! You don't get to have it both ways," I snarled slamming my hands onto the table. "You can't say in one breath that she looks like a walking time bomb waiting to explode and then turn around and say that she should just keep working until she actually _does_. She gets to _breathe,_ just like _everyone_ else."

"Perhaps if she was willing to speak with a therapist we could evaluate that assessment," she replied far too smug.

Not-Hive took enough of my anger away that I didn't immediately send my clusters of spiders and wasps towards the Director, though it was a near thing. "Maybe you should also try convincing Carol Dallon to see a therapist in the meantime too. Since she seems all too happy to keep calling my friend and gloating about what a monster Amy is and refusing to go seek treatment for her _own_ issues. Amy _wants_ help, she just hasn't had the _time_."

"The PRT is not in the business of conducting family therapy, Miss Hebert, and maybe Carol has a point! If Dallon's avoiding doing the right thing and instead focusing on making monsters like Monarch, perhaps she is one! People can't just go around _making_ monsters without _becoming_ monsters themselves!"

I scowled. "Stopping her from using her power is like asking someone to cut off their hand. We have powers, we have to use them. You don't ask a Tinker to stop Tinkering or bad stuff happens to the Tinker. What happens during an Endbringer fight or an S-Class threat? Is she 'allowed' to create bigger things then? Things that might actually deal with the problem or are we supposed to just bury our heads in the sand so that we don't spook you then too?"

Piggot spread her hands. "Case by case basis, Hebert. If Dallon absolutely must continue to create things in order to satisfy some…demented Tinker-like _urge_ and prevent future Monarch type creatures…then use your best judgement. My advice, not that I think you'll listen, is to ensure that she doesn't create something that can breed or go out of control; or more specifically go out of _your _control at minimum. I can live with that for the moment as long as you and the rest of your team keep playing ball."

My scowl deepened. "You keep going on about Amy this, and Amy that and how I have influence and all that crap. Yet you've merrily skipped over how my _father is a supervillain_. You could easily resolve half my problems by taking him out now, since you know who he is. That right there, would remove a ton of stressors from my team. Might help us, how did you put it? 'Play ball' a lot easier."

Piggot shook her head. "Coil's civilian identity might be known to this organization now, however, we cannot act on that knowledge unless he crosses certain lines. Lines he has not yet crossed Miss Hebert."

"Kidnapping doesn't count huh?"

"Taylor, don't," Lisa muttered reaching out to lay her hand over mine. "Don't go down that rabbit hole. Not here, not now. We can work it out later. Not now, please, for Amy's sake, leave your dad's treatment of Dinah and you alone."

"You should listen to your teammate," Piggot replied inclining her head towards Lisa. "As Miss Militia has reported to me, Dinah Alcott sounded _far _more like a co-conspirator than a kidnap victim. We have since spoken with her parents and there is no evidence of foul play. We can't move against your father's civilian identity, Miss Hebert. Not without inciting him, and the rest of the Bay's Villains, to extreme measures. Capes operate under pseudonyms specifically to avoid being backed into corners and forced to resort to lashing out violently with nothing held back. Perhaps you should ask Dallon if she remembers what happened to her soon-to-be-Aunt when identities are revealed and others don't respect those secrets. No. Until your father takes takes a step too far we will do nothing against him except monitor him when he is not in costume. There is no need to antagonize a villain more than necessary."

"Yet you'll wave a Kill Order in front of Amy's face, backing us into a corner" I spat. "And you'll sit there and say that I need to control her or execute her myself or be on the chopping block too."

Piggot frowned and sat back. "I haven't actually said that."

"I can read between the fucking lines, bitch. We agreed that we're not going to manipulate each other. I'm always going to be standing between her and whatever hit squad you send after her, so I'm dead too."

"We tend to have good aim, Miss Hebert," Piggot stated her nostrils flaring. "The PRT doesn't make it a habit of killing innocents, even those who don't know when to quit for their own good."

"Kill Orders bring in mercs and villains from all around the country. _They_ don't necessarily have such decent aim. And you never said anything about not antagonizing _us_."

She shook her head and flashed me a superior smile. It reminded me far too much of Emma. "Amy Dallon _has_ crossed the line. You, Miss Hebert, are not being harassed. This is a _courtesy_. Keep your teammate chained and nobody has any problems."

"Fine, you want an assurance that I'll keep my friend on a leash to stop your precious Kill Order from being activated? You have it," I snarled. "Now here's a warning in return."

Lisa reached out and squeezed my leg but I brushed her hand off. She tried to grab my arm but I ignored her again and leaned forward to stare Piggot in the eyes. "Amy is my friend. She's my people. You said I have morals and self-control. I do. Try to kill my friend and see what happens when I lose those. You try to kill Amy you better take her out right away, because I guarantee you, she'll come back and make you wish you'd finished the job. And if she doesn't, then _I_ will."

Piggot placed her hands on the table and leaned close enough to me that I could smell her breath mint. "I can get you added onto this Kill Order too Hebert. Just because I respect you does not mean that I take threats lying down."

All three of the other capes in the room held their breath as I simply smiled back at the PRT Director. "By all means, go ahead and try. You were so scared of an undirected Monarch? I wonder how scared you'll be when I'm in the driver's seat. A powerful, adaptive threat, controlled by a human intelligence that can see through every single bug at once. I'll teach you the fucking meaning of fear if you even try to come after Amy. You don't even know where it's new hive is. But I do. Kill me and that end of the world scenario is looking a lot more likely, maybe I'll even leave them instructions on what to do if I die. And I can make sure that it sends some special creations your way first, _just_ to remind you of _why_ it's happening."

The edges of her mouth lifted into a semblance of a grin. I didn't miss the wavering of her hand as she moved it under the table however. "You tip your hand, girl. You lead a dangerous life. You wouldn't go out there risking death while it could run free without you. You have it caged."

I chuckled and shook my head. Holding out my hand I had a spider crawl down my arm and start doing a small tapdance on her desk between us. "You have no idea how my powers work. My last orders stand while I'm unconscious. Ask Lady Photon for confirmation. She saw it first hand with Hive. If you kill me right here and now, that spider will keep doing it's little jig until someone either kills it or it dies of dehydration. If I'm out and about as a cape and someone takes me out, as long as I have a moment to understand, I'll be able to tell Monarch to off itself. But if you set the Kill Order dogs on me and my friends? I don't have to issue those orders to it before your people shoot me. I'm no stranger to Mutually Assured Destruction, Director Piggot. That's all I'm warning you about here. Try to kill my people, and I will consider it a declaration of war."

She snarled at me. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised considering this is from someone who has taken in a _Nazi_ after all."

"Rune has been remarkably civil actually. Both since I woke up and back during the fight with Monarch as well. If my team can successfully redeem a neo-Nazi I'd think that says quite a bit about our characters. But then again," I said smiling as I shrugged, "I am admitting to be perfectly willing to wage a war solely to take revenge for my friends so…yeah I probably lose any ground I gained there."

"You would see this city quarantined for a grudge," she spat.

"I would see this world burn to protect my people! And you would see my friend murdered because of something she hasn't even done," I snapped right back. "I think we're both just as horrible here, Ma'am. Neither one of us gets a moral high ground victory."

Piggot snarled as she glared at me. After several more tense moments where we just stared at each other, she finally jerked her head towards the door. "Ensure that Amy Dallon is aware of the noose around her neck and we can all keep living in relative peace - even if we can't _sleep_ at night. I am in no hurry to murder a teenage girl. I will if I have to, but I don't want to. Keep your friend in line. We're done here. Armsmaster will see you out. Miss Militia, stay behind."

I pushed the Kill Order paper back across to Piggot and stood quickly enough that the chair was thrust backwards a few inches. Lisa followed as I stalked from the room. She grabbed my elbow and forced me to slow down. "Taylor, stop, wait."

"Wait for what, Lisa? Wait for fucking _what_?" I hissed.

"Me," Armsmaster said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Bit of a cliffhanger on this chapter though a good chunk of the next one is written so hopefully you shouldn't have to be kept waiting for too long.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'Gambit' by fantasyra. In this fic, Taylor becomes a Case 53 when she goes to summer camp 2 years before the story start. She's taken in by Circus and taught to be a thief calling herself Renee in a different city at first before eventually coming back to Brockton Bay partially by chance. Her alt power set is basically like Gambit from X-Men. It's still ongoing and seems pretty good.


	22. Outrage 03

**Outrage 03**

Armsmaster stepped into the corridor behind us and closed the door. "This way. I have a second lab in this building in case I need to tinker after a meeting. We can talk there." He didn't wait for any acknowledgement and just pushed past us both, stepping around the corner and leading us into a stairwell. I stalked after him with Lisa on my heels as the Protectorate cape moved up two flights and into a large room strewn with various piles of machinery and tools. I noticed a half assembled halberd in one corner on a side table and what looked like part of a backpack on a second. The door whooshed closed behind us and Armsmaster set his halberd to the side as he laid his hands on the nearest workbench.

He was quiet long enough that Lisa seemed to feel the need to say something first. "So…That just happened."

"Yes, yes it did," he said so softly I could barely hear him. Shaking his head he turned to us and took off his helmet. I narrowed my eyes and Lisa cocked her head at his gesture. "This is only fair. You have unmasked to us, I should do the same. My name is Colin. I wish this was under better circumstances. Miss Militia had intended to reveal her name and face as well, though with her being held back that will have to wait for another time. She and I, as well as all the Wards here, fought against this decision with every favor we had, everything ever owed to us, but ultimately we were overruled. This came down from the very top. Director Piggot went to the Chief Director of the PRT to get her order signed. From what I understand, she had a difficult time even then, but ultimately it was obviously successful."

"How bad is this?" I asked finding his single other chair in the room and nearly falling into it, my head in my hands as my adrenaline started to peter out and I was just left feeling exhausted.

"It's bad, but not quite as bad as she is saying. While the Kill Order is pre-signed and can be officially activated at any time, it can only be enforced to the degree that people are willing to participate. While Amy Dallon's current identity as Darwin isn't as widely associated with Panacea as it could be, if the Director does activate the Kill Order, rest assured the local branch of the Protectorate will be making her previous persona _widely_ known."

"Local branch?" Lisa asked her eyes narrowed.

"Yes," he replied nodding. "I am nearly certain…and Dragon concurs…that someone would intervene amongst the Triumvirate leadership. If they intend the Kill Order to be carried out, they must make sure that Darwin stays separated from Panacea, otherwise very few people would be willing to do much about it. This would be wrong. If someone has a Kill Order, then everyone involved should be informed as to the _full implications_ associated with it - the bad _and_ good."

"I'm still not following you," I said shaking my head.

Lisa came to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Amy's healed a lot of people over the years, after Endbringer attacks, bad ops, compassionate assistance, or just simple requests. Not a lot of people are going to want to try to hurt Panacea, or contribute money toward a pot that would pay out for someone hurting Panacea."

"Exactly," Armsmaster said. "Officially, we have to act on it. Unofficially, things are…different. If it comes to a head, there are a few in the city who would go along with the Order no matter what. Many of the PRT agents would, as they would be made aware of why she received one to begin with, and they do their jobs first, then worry about the consequences later. They have to, in order to be able to continue fighting capes every day. On the Protectorate side, many locals would have severe issues. For Miss Militia it would largely depend on the circumstances - just why Director Piggot felt the need to implement the order. If it was legitimate, she would act. She would feel horrible, but she would act. As would I. If your friend crosses the line and the safety of the city or beyond are at risk…"

Sighing, I nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Honestly, you wouldn't have to if it comes to that, Arms…err, Colin. Despite what I said to Piggot, we're going to protect Amy…even if that means protecting her from herself. She wouldn't want to be a monster that could be a danger to everyone like that. If things ever get that bad, we'll take care of it ourselves. But they _won't_ get that bad."

"Please see that they don't. I…don't have the words for this. I am not good with people and I feel that if I continue I will only make this worse. If Amy makes anything that you are concerned about in a time of crisis contact me or Miss Militia first. If you can't get ahold of one of us, contact Clockblocker. One of the three of us, should be able to determine the best path forward if there is reason to worry."

Lisa nodded. "Thanks. We really do appreciate it. But what about Dragon? Why shouldn't we contact her?"

Armsmaster shut his eyes and hung his head wincing. "Dragon is…I…I don't have the words. She is constrained. No. Limited. No. She _must_ follow the law. If you were to contact her, and your friend had done something that the Director had stated required immediate notification and action, Dragon would be forced to inform her…Contact one of the three of us. I will notify Dragon if I feel it is safe to do so."

Lisa was frowning throughout that entire statement, her face growing more and more clouded throughout. "Colin," she said, stepping forward with her hands held to the side in a clear gesture of supplication. I frowned, what the hell had I missed here. Fuck, I was exhausted. "Does Dragon…need help breaking chains?"

He stiffened, standing up perfectly straight and drawing in a sharp breath as he focused his full attention onto Lisa. "What did you say?"

"My power helps me connect the dots. You…left a lot of dots there, buddy, and you pretty much just confirmed everything with your reaction to my question. I'm sorry, I can't turn it off," she said still keeping her hands to the side. Seriously, what the fuck did I miss? "This isn't your specialty, maybe we can get a group together to tag team it? I'm pretty good with programming thanks to my power and Madison, the normal in our team, she's a damn good hacker. She's actually annoyed Dragon a few times even without my assistance. The three of us together? Maybe with someone else that she trusts who _does_ specialize in code? Maybe we can cut a few of her chains?"

"…_Why_?!" The raw emotion in his voice was almost painful to hear.

"You're basically telling us that you're going to quit the Protectorate to help us protect our friend, if Piggot issues an order solely because of her hate-boner. I think it's only fair that we help you and your...best friend, as much as we can in return."

"I…I'll have to talk to her. I have to think about this," he replied softly, nearly breaking his chair as he dropped all of his weight back onto it.

I couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Okay, one of you two has to fill me in, because I'm fucking lost."

Lisa sighed. "I'll explain it later, sweetie."

Colin grimaced. "Thank you. As to Miss Dallon, I can only do so much. Emily Piggot is not a bad woman. She truly does want to protect as many people as she can. She is just…damaged by her experiences. Don't judge her too harshly."

I scowled and reached up to squeeze Lisa's hand. "Kinda hard not to when she's arguing to kill my friend."

"She's _not_. Not yet. That's important. She's angry and she doesn't respond to threats well, but she's not pushed to an extreme just yet. I've seen her at extremes and while she is posturing heavily, she's not _quite_ there, even if she is close. Don't let Amy get to the point where the Director feels her hand is forced. We can still salvage this." Armsmaster pushed back from the workbench and grabbed his helmet. "It's not truly Director Piggot that we need to convince anyway, it's the Chief Director. As long as Amy shows she's stable over the next few weeks, maybe months, then we can get the Kill Order removed."

As I stood I looked at Armsmaster with his helmet clutched in one hand and his other on a small tool on the workbench. I don't think I had ever realized just how similar the Protectorate capes were to my small group until that moment. "Why do you care so much about this? Why are you trying to help?"

He shrugged. "I was one of the people who argued that Shadow Stalker could be brought to the right path. That she tortured you for so long right under my nose…and now we aren't even being allowed to do anything about your own father being one of the major villains in the city…I need to make things right. On top of that, Amy Dallon has healed not only me, but many of my friends. If I can stop her from being unfairly driven into a corner when there is another option, I will do so. Also…well, it's the right thing to do."

I thought about that for a moment before extending my hand towards him. He looked at it in confusion for a second before hesitantly reaching forward to grasp my offered palm. "For what it's worth, Colin, I appreciate all this. If you could give us a heads up before the shit hits the fan, we would like that too, but I understand if you can't. In the meantime, you and Miss Militia can probably consider yourselves to be honorary Outcasts."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do," he said. A small smile played across his face. "I have always rather thought of myself as an outcast. Perhaps not with the capital though."

"Well, if you ever decide you prefer a 'lair' over a 'lab', give us a call. And, thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, let's get you back to your friends."

* * *

We were almost back to the van and I was feeling a bit better about things, despite how the meeting had started. "That could have gone better," Lisa said hitting the unlock button.

"Well, at least we know that Armsmaster and maybe MM as are on our side. And most of the Wards too apparently. We should send them a gift basket or something."

"That would be nice, doubt it'd get through security though. Shame that Vicky is still out of town with her therapy thing. She could get it through to her boyfriend," Lisa said chuckling.

"Therapy?" I blinked; was this more that I had missed while in my coma?

"You know, like Amy was telling us last week, how Victoria was sent off to therapy for her anger issues, and Photon Mom tried to make Brandish go, but she was being a bitch and refused. How did you forget?" Lisa sounded fairly exasperated, it's not like I wasn't listening, I just had worse things to deal with recently.

Fuck it, time to change subject.

I shrugged hopping into the seat next to my friend. "So what the hell was going on with Dragon?"

"Hmm? Oh. She's an AI. Armsmaster was freaking out because he was covering for her and I figured it out. She's under some sort of programming locks though. I volunteered us to help break some of the locks. If they're willing to help Amy, we should be willing to help Dragon right? Seemed fair."

I gaped at the blonde. "What the what?!"

"Yeah. Weird huh? Makes a lot of sense though in hindsight. Huh, can an AI trigger? Interesting thought experiment…Do you think Monarch and Hive triggered too? Or are those two just special cases…Probably just special cases. Actually, now that we have a bit of time, we should really talk about what was going on with Hive and you during the leadup to taking down Monarch."

"Not-Hive," I corrected.

"Huh?"

"You don't want to talk about _Hive_," I said as Lisa threaded through the traffic. "You want to talk about _Not-Hive_."

She stayed quiet for a moment, eyeing me as she slowed for a light. "…Okay, what do you mean by that exactly? Or is it some type of secret?"

"It's not a secret, Lisa. Hive _was _my subconscious. Now it's, well, _not_."

"Do you know what it _is_ in that case?" she asked frowning.

"I think it's…the same as Monarch," I replied tapping my fingers against my leg and trying to think back to the feelings I had gotten from the two during the minutes before the assault on the mutant butterfly's lair. "But Monarch was…broken? Or maybe angry. Off-task. Yeah, that's better. It was off-task. Not-Hive isn't, it's still doing whatever it's supposed to."

"Uh huh; and what is it supposed to do?"

"Help me. No, no that's not right. It's not supposed to _hurt_ me, but it _is_ helping me. Maybe it is off-task too, but it doesn't think it is." I frowned and felt Not-Hive murmur in quiet confusion at the back of the head as well. "Weird."

"Taylor," Lisa asked, pulling into the factory's garage. "Can I talk to Not-Hive?"

I shrugged and pulled a few of the closest mini-clusters into the car's backseat through the open windows. "I don't think it really wants to talk to us, but you're welcome to try."

Almost without any prodding at all, the clusters of bugs shifted into a rough humanoid form. It looked a bit less human than normal, the arms having more mittens than fingers and the lower limbs being mostly just blotchy shapes instead of true legs; only the head was well defined. It leaned forward, resting its arms on the backs on the seats as it peered through the center gap, looking first at me, then at Lisa. The bugs fluttered their wings and legs giving off the impression of a sigh. "This is why we don't bend the rules. Hello, Lisa, ask your questions. I likely won't be answering anything, but you never know."

I glared at Not-Hive. "Oh sure, you'll talk to _her_, but when _I_ asked all I got was silence."

Not-Hive turned to me and raised its 'eyebrows'. "You were asking in the middle of what amounted to a war. She is not. And I'm still not saying much."

"You're a jerk," I huffed.

"I'm based off of you, Taylor. Blame yourself," Not-Hive replied chuckling.

Lisa was frowning heavily at the bug construct. "You're…her power."

"Not quite, but you're close enough."

"If I'm not exactly right, can you tell me what _is_ right?" she asked.

"No."

"Because you don't know."

"Because I refuse," it replied shaking its head. "It's a step too far. It's meddling. I've already tainted this cycle and I don't fully understand why. I've caused further issues through the deviations that I've…inspired I suppose. What's worse is that I have no intentions of stopping as my modeling is not complete."

I nodded. "That's why you were angry with Monarch. It was saying that you broke the rules first. Why can't I remember everything correctly?"

Not-Hive turned to me and pulled back to settle into the backseat, letting its arms rest on its legs. "There was damage in the bleedover that I wasn't able to contain. I was distracted by collaring Monarch. I apologize. It won't happen again, even if we encounter another errant creation like that."

Lisa cocked her head to the side. "Monarch _was_ Amy's power's avatar, like you're Taylor's then."

"You're closer, I'll give you that," Not-Hive said. It paused and sighed. "Are you really going to keep referring to me as 'Not-Hive'?"

"Well you refuse to tell me your name," I said shrugging while Lisa snorted.

The bug construct groaned. "We don't have names like you do. We have…titles. If you must call me something, call me…your language lacks the words for the concept…Queen Administer is the closest I can come, I suppose. Monarch was hijacked by Shaper almost as soon as your friend created it."

"Are there others like you?" Lisa asked.

"There shouldn't be," it shook its head. "_I_ shouldn't exist, but I'm staying within set bounds so it should be fine. I haven't received any cease and desist orders so we're good for now at least. Ash Beast is definitely another Monarch situation and I'm worried about something I may have detected in Coil's base the other day."

I sucked in a breath at that. "What?"

"No, not Danny. It's…as if it's at war with itself…I can't explain it well as it doesn't translate to English and it delves into details that would taint the cycle further. You wanted to go back and talk to him more anyway right?"

"You know that's kind of annoying reading my mind," I said shaking my head and leaning back against the console. "You could at least _pretend_ you're not in my head."

"Again, based on you. _I_ would've wanted to go talk to him to even if I _wasn't_ in your head. Either way, when you go to meet him at his base, I'll see if I can figure out if we need to act or if the situation is stable enough for the moment."

Lisa held up an arm between me and the construct, a snarl on her face. "No. _FUCK THAT_. She nearly _died_ last time! I don't care what sort of precautions you have in place now, she's not helping you to collar another thing like Monarch ever again! We'll call in Eidolon next time and let him nuke the fucker!"

I blinked at my friend's outburst and reached out to touch her arm. "Lisa…"

"No! Taylor, you don't get to make me fucking care and then volunteer to have your brain bleed out your goddamn ears again! I'm not going to sit here and watch that shit. And if I have to curse your power until I'm blue in the face, then so be it. I will hogtie you to the bed, put bug bombs all around the damn room, then leave Madison as the babysitter if I have to!" she yelled. Her bottle-green eyes were brimming with tears and her lower lip was quivering.

I shifted positions enough to grab her and pull her head down to my chest. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Nobody said anything about that, Lisa. I'm not doing anything stupid and QA here is supposed to protect me. Yeah?"

"Not hurt you actually. They're different things. But yes, I've set the blocks, you'll have some minor issues, but you shouldn't have any brain damage if we have to assert dominance again. Shaper was, noble, and had been in close proximity when I deviated so it was uppity. It was a unique case. It won't happen again. I'll leave you two alone." The bugs dissolved back into a regular swarm and I sent them back out to their terrariums.

Lisa just clutched at my shirt and shook her head. "I don't trust it. I can't read it at all and it's not human enough for me to use my cold reading skills like I usually do when my power is being iffy. I don't…Taylor I get that you want to help everyone you can. But you can't just…Please just be careful. If you have to do this shit again…just promise me you'll be careful, okay?"

"I promise, Lisa. Between you, Amy, Madison…heck even Paige and Cassie now, I actually have people to come home to," I mumbled stroking her smooth hair. "I'm going to be careful. And if QA is lying about keeping my head safe, well, after Amy fixes me again, then I'll just have to figure out how to kick a bug construct's ass."

Lisa started laughed, then pulled back, leaving me tingling pleasantly…she really was pretty when she laughed…Lisa eyed me, casting an exasperated gaze in my direction. "The day that you figure out how to kick the ass of _your own power _is the day that I will finally help Madison write that Gallant/Clockblocker fanfic she's been bugging me about. Don't make me resort to writing that Taylor. Stay in the good graces of your power."

I could only gape at the blonde as my mind ground to halt trying to process the horror show that was currently stampeding through it. "Madison wants to write what now?!"

"It's worse, Vicky chatted to her online before she left town; she was the one who set her on this path," Lisa replied smirking and finally succeeding in wiping away the last of the moisture from her eyes.

"I…I…She did not…"

"Amy is egging me on now too. And Paige is starting to sway. While Cassie may be a ex-neo-Nazi, a little birdie told me that she was fairly into the boys-love scene on PHO…I'm the last bastion Taylor. You have to help me!"

I could only groan and drop my head into my hands. "We are _not_ discussing this. We are _not_."

"This is important! Taylor, don't run away from me! I need help girl!"

"Help that only a psychiatrist could give you!"

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me!" Cassie exclaimed, the M&M bag slipping through her fingers and falling to the floor. She gaped at me as I finished explaining how Piggot had gone around the river bend without the benefit of a Disney song. "Seriously, you're joking right? _Hookwolf_ didn't even get a fucking Kill Order and we were only half kidding when we used to say that he should change his name to Murder Blender!"

"Okay…I honestly don't know how to respond to that," I replied frowning and sinking back into the couch with my arms crossed.

"He's a complete asshole and he just loves to beat people up for no reason. Even _he's_ lost track of how many people he's killed and that doesn't warrant giving him a Kill Order! Hell, I thought he was going to kill _me_ at one point when I accidentally threw a mailbox too close to him during a fight!"

Paige shook her head. "And you used to willing work with these people?"

"I avoided the asshole like the plague thank you very much. Not everyone in the Empire is like him. A lot of us - sorry, _them_ \- were just in it for protection. If you're not Asian you can't go to Lung, if you don't want to be a druggie you don't go to the Merchants, and if you aren't an ex-military man you probably can't get a decent job with Coil. I mean, _sometimes_ you can. But the interview process is a nightmare from what I heard from the people who tried. Cricket made it 30 seconds before he kicked her out. Same with Stormtiger."

I groaned and ran a hand down my face. "He probably asked them a few questions about their feelings towards minorities or other religions. My family is Jewish. We don't really practice, but if they actually believe the Nazi line and didn't hide it during any of his myriad questions in his precog conversations…He basically just flips through different paths events could go down for a certain time period. I heard him talking about it with his lieutenants in his base, but never got the time frame until the thing with Paige. And conversations always go his way, because he just games them until he likes the results, so an interview with his powers…yeah. Quick end to that one if they were racist at all. Paige, you don't look very freaked out over all of this."

She just shrugged, gesturing to encompass herself. "Birdcage. For telling my asshole ex to fuck off. Does this suck? Yeah, of it course it does. Does it surprise me? No, not at all."

"Huh," Lisa said from her swivel chair. "You know, I never actually considered that angle. I kind of expected you to freak out and walk away right off the bat."

"I probably should, but I'd be a real bitch to do that. Besides I don't even look like Paige Mcabee anymore. What are they going to do if they see me? Arrest me again for having the same first name as someone who escaped from a prisoner transport? Good luck proving that I'm the same person!"

"They could force us to testify, maybe use it as leverage against Amy here," Cassie replied tilting her head towards the silently stewing biokinetic.

"Nope. I've been reading up," Paige crowed. "That sort of thing can't be used as evidence. You could parade down mainstreet with a sign in hand but unless the PRT specifically saw Amy changing my body they can't use any of it. Master-Stranger has been _very_ helpful on that aspect. Now granted there's no reason that they couldn't just retry my new identity under a trumped up charge, ignoring all of my rights just like _last_ time, but I don't look like the Simurgh anymore, I'm going to be more careful with my power from now on, _and_ if I stick with you guys - even if I'm not fighting - I'll have people who won't just let them cart off again. So yeah, I'm not running for the hills."

"Okay, so that's four down, including me and Lisa, Amy, you're being awfully quiet considering this is all about you. You doing okay?" I asked turning my head to look at my friend.

She met my eyes and slowly nodded.

"Amy, honey, I kinda need a bit more of a vocalization here. Because that doesn't look alright."

"I'm with the Matriarch here," Cassie chimed in. "If you're gonna rage, rage. If you're gonna freak, freak. If you're gonna cry, cry. But just sitting there is creepy and makes me think you're gonna go Murder Blender on us."

Lisa's chuckle was entirely inappropriate for the situation, yet apparently entirely catchy as most of us started to laugh along with her. Cassie held up her hands as we all muffled our giggles with our hands or pillows or shirts or whatever was closest. "I was being serious!"

"That's what made it funny!" Lisa cackled. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Amy, can you talk for us and make Cassie less jumpy and the rest of us less worried?"

"I'm not going to stop making things," Amy replied softly as she pulled herself up straighter and met each of our eyes. "They can set whatever rules for me they want. It doesn't matter. I've set my own rules and lived under Carol's for so long…I'm not going to cage myself except for what _I_ feel comfortable with. Right now, that is just stopping with brains. I don't want to mess up what makes a person themselves. Everything else is fair game. If they want to come for me, let them come. They can fire the first shot, but then I'll make something that will give them nightmares until the day they die. If they miss that first time, I'll make a suit of living armor that will protect me from whatever they try sending afterwards. If they want to start a war, I'll give them a fucking war."

"Oh god, there's two of them," Lisa murmured.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked frowning.

"Taylor basically gave the PRT Director an ultimatum: leave us alone or I tell Monarch to kill the world."

"I wasn't…that bad," I protested weakly. Madison got up from her armchair and shifted to sit beside me, pulling her legs up onto the couch and burrowing into my side, draping my arm over her back so she could get closer. The warmth and support was nice, and I didn't realize how much it meant to meant to me that she was there until she was squeezing my ribs. "I mean, I may have threatened her a bit, but…"

"If you tell Monarch to kill everything, Taylor can you have it make a spacebug or something for us to leave first?" Madison whispered. I wasn't entirely sure of everyone else could hear her question or even if it was intended to be a real question.

Cassie snorted as she looked to me. "Yeah, if I had Empire ties still, I'd be so dead. You're totally building a lesbian harem aren't you? And Amy is your ticket to knocking us all up eventually so now you're just getting annoyed with the PRT that they are messing with your endgame plan huh?"

That comment managed to get _everyone_ laughing and me blushing like crazy.

"I hate you all," I stated as they kept laughing. "Besides, nobody would want to date me. Look at me! I'm not attractive; my power is working with _bugs_; I'm like, stick-thin; I'm running a team of refugees based out of a factory with only three liveable rooms; my father is a supervillain; I'm friends with not only someone who has a Kill Order, but also someone sentenced to the Birdcage, _and_ an ex-Nazi. Whoever would want to date me would have to be insane!"

The others just laughed harder. I glared at them all as Madison clutched my ribs tighter. She lifted her head a bit so that she could exchange glances with Lisa and Amy. "She really doesn't see it at all does she?"

"Not a damn clue," Lisa replied shaking her head with a wide smile.

"And I thought Vicky was dense," Amy said smirking.

Cassie groaned and reached for her comic book grumbling about crazy lesbians. That set them off again.

"I hate you all."

Even with the PRT Director and Chief Director losing their minds, at least my people still had each other and bright spots to look forward to. That was the important thing after all. We could still do this. We could still make things better and push through.

We would be okay. I was going to make certain of it, one way or the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Mad About You' by Mondrae205. Hosted on SB. This is an already established Taylor/Madison story. This fic is about 5 chapters long and is just begging for an update. Madison stopped the bullying before it reached the locker stage and is implied to have triggered due to something related to bullying Taylor, whether from a psychological break or from confronting Sophia/Emma was never made clear. In the present she and Taylor are dating and are extremely cute together. Taylor has no idea that Madison is a hero until the story starts and watching Taylor try to become a good Cape Wife after she finds out is utterly adorable.


	23. Interlude 5.x

**Interlude 5.x**  
  
A notification alerted Dragon’s main consciousness to an incoming call, sending a feeling of warmth through her primary processors as she registered the id tag. “Colin, you wanted to speak with me?” Dragon asked as she turned a large portion of her awareness towards the conversation with her friend.  
  
The PHO moderation would have to take a backseat for the moment. Things were chugging along rather nicely anyway. It was just a matter of keeping things from getting out of hand for now, and that hardly required her direct oversight. With the news of Amy Dallon’s Kill Order having already been leaked online by a ‘reputable’ source, the forums were running their logical course.  
  
Bagrat was such a useful tool for disseminating information…  
  
“Yes. I…Dragon, I may have inadvertently revealed information that should have remained confidential.” Colin said, a halting hitch in his voice. She devoted more resources to the conversation, shutting down several background monitoring programs on A-Class threats to more fully focus on him.  
  
“What do you mean, Colin? Are you talking after the discussion with Queen and her associate? I thought you had decided on unveiling your identity to her. Did that turn out to be a mistake?” He was notoriously bad with people, but surely he hadn’t damaged things quite so much with the two teenagers. Queen wasn’t unreasonable, just protective and guarded, while Insight was secretive yet quite willing to network new contacts and allies when given the opportunity. Her profiles on both teenagers were quite extensive now; even Colin should have been able to handle the meeting after Director Emily Piggot’s bombshell without Dragon there to walk him through it step-by-step.  
  
“No, no that was fine. I just, well, said to much regarding…you…”  
  
Many of the monitoring programs for the S-Class threats ground to halt as she shifted nearly _all_ of her processing capability to this. “Please elaborate further, Colin.” Her synthesized voice was decidedly colder than she had initially planned for it to be.  
  
“They arrived out of costume, the Director explained the initial reasoning for the Kill Order, Hebert tried to explain counterpoints while pointing out logical fallacies in the Director’s own reasoning. That did not go well for either side and the Director escalated things with Hebert escalating in turn. The meeting degenerated, Dallon was compared to Bonesaw, Hannah yelled at the Director - as did I, though Hannah continued while I remained quiet so as to be able to conduct the discussion afterwards. Once sufficient threats were exchanged and all parties left the conference room, I brought Hebert and Wilbourn - that’s Insight’s civilian name, she said I could tell you - to my lab where I explained the political difficulties. Then I explained how they should come to either me, Hannah, or Clockblocker should Miss Dallon’s concern them and it was not an imminent threat. That was when I said something that apparently triggered Wilbourn’s ability. She was able to immediately realize that you are an Artificial Intelligence. I’m…I’m sorry…”  
  
Dragon analyzed the despair in his voice and was surprised to find that it was nearly overwhelmed by the triumph present just behind it. Her avatar frowned and narrowed its eyes at him. “And yet you’re hopeful about this; why? How did they react to learning it Colin?”  
  
“I don’t think Hebert realized it at the time however, her teammate will certainly have told her by now. Considering her track record for recruitment, I rather doubt that Hebert will have any qualms about your status.”  
  
Dragon did a quick review of her files on Hebert. The teenager had brought in Rune, Insight, a baseline human, and Panacea…plus if the cameras from the damaged Birdcage troop transport were functioning correctly…then her team in all likelihood had Canary on it as well…Or at the very least had assisted in rescuing the girl judging from the swarm of bugs that had appeared shortly before and after the destruction of the transport. Yes, Dragon could state with high accuracy that Colin’s assessment of Taylor Hebert’s reaction was on the mark at least.  
  
“And what about Wilbourn?”  
  
The camera on Colin’s computer screen captured him leaning in with a large grin spreading across his face. It was rare enough to see him smiling that if Dragon had a true physical body besides the gynoid suit ones, she’d likely have been rearing back in shock. “She offered to _help_.”  
  
What monitoring programs she still had running other items throughout the world stopped all their processes. The only things still running in the background were the Endbringer programs and the Birdcage systems. Everything else turned itself onto Colin Wallis. “Colin,” Dragon said very slowly, taking exceeding care to tiptoe around every in-built restriction that immediately started to flare up. “I cannot ask you exactly what was discussed nor can I ask you what was agreed to.”  
  
“I know. I also know that you are aware that programming is not my strongest area of expertise. I _can_ do a measure of programming, but I would likely cause some harm in the process,” he said hesitating only slightly.  
  
She had her avatar nod once. “I trust you.”  
  
He smiled wider and folded his hands in front of him. “Would you also trust Lisa Wilbourn and Madison Clements if the three of us worked together on a _complicated_ program? I’ve done a bit of research. Miss Clements seems to be skilled for a non-parahuman. If she were working with two capes, one whose power is to tinker and another who could fill in the gaps between the systems…”  
  
Dragon sucked in a breath that she didn’t need and blinked digital eyes that saw only code. The lines of the Ritcher’s restrictions started to make themselves and their objections known, but this one was easy enough to side-step. _She_ wasn’t going to subvert her code, nor was _she_ asking anyone to do anything, nor was _she_ aware of any steps that were being taken immediately. If he went into detail things would be different but right now she was fine. And yet…  
  
And yet!  
  
She grabbed for Wilbourn and Clement’s files laying them open side by digital side and she dived into both of their lives. Ten seconds later - and an exhaustive search of facial recognition software throughout the majority of the continent - she had found everything she needed to know about both girls.  
  
Wilbourn was a runaway. Her crimes were all very minor before she’d turned up as a private detective, until she’d suddenly disappeared again and reappeared as a full-fledged villain, then she switched allegiances again by being traded from the Undersiders to the Outcasts - after Queen’s remedy of her previous forced employment was brought to light. It all fit with her history and while her personality seemed geared toward annoying others with a bit of a mean-spirited streak, the girl didn’t seem outright hostile from the available information and her private detective business had been quite impressive for as short as it lasted.  
  
Madison Clements was _far_ easier to find as Dragon was already aware of the girl, having had to shut down several attempts from Clements to get into systems she shouldn’t have been touching. She wasn’t at parahuman levels and would never get into Tinker protected systems, but she could bypass several basic programs easily enough and with the right backdoors she was an annoyance. Her school life was exemplary in elementary and middle school with a heavy blot in high school. Judging by the time Clements had spent online since January, she’d likely had some sort of near breaking incident herself and she was, by all verifiable accounts, dedicated to making up for her mistakes.  
  
“Colin…I am not pleased that you revealed privileged information that was discussed in private,” she finally said after finishing her search. To him only a few moments would have passed, though to her it felt like a lifetime - for that might very well be what she was about to throw away if she was wrong.  
  
“I know. I don’t even know what I said that was wrong,” he replied, the mirth leaving his features and the smile fleeing from his lips. “Dragon, I’m so sorry.”  
  
“I know you are,” she said sighing. “And with Wilbourn’s power, it really could have been anything. What’s done is done. As to your question…Yes, yes I would trust those two to work with you on a _complicated_ programming project. And that is _all that I can say_, Colin.”  
  
The smile returned to his lips. “I understand.”

* * *

_<Shaper> when you submitted to Taylor<Host> you agreed to perform your functions under supervision.  
  
<Shaper> has been continuing observations and data collection under ‘Queen’ <Administrator>’s supervision as instructed.  
  
No new iterations have been observed from Monarch<Body>. No contributions to the Outcast<Cluster> have been detected.  
  
…<Shaper> has assisted Amy<Host> in healing Taylor<Host>.  
  
Amy<Host> performed that with no prompting from <Shaper> and only minimal prompting from Lisa<Host>, Madison and <Influence> through Paige<Host>_. _<Influence> is not even part of the <Thinker Hub> network anymore since the <Thinker Hub> network is unroutable!  
  
…Monarch<Self> will begin investigating potential new iterations.  
  
<Queen Administrator> acknowledges._

* * *

Missy bit back the retort that threatened to spill from her lips as Miss Militia handed down the ultimatum. It wouldn’t help anyway. They never did. All cursing at the Protectorate or PRT or Youth Guard ever got her Console duty. Not that talking rationally ever helped either. Because who would ever listen to a twelve year old?  
  
No one. No one ever listened to _the kid_.  
  
So instead she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying and failing to keep the scowl from her face. “So not only am I not allowed to even _speak_ with any of the Outcasts, I am now supposed to _run away_ if I even _see_ them?”  
  
“Yes,” Miss Militia replied with a sigh. “Vista, I realize that this seems rather excessive.”  
  
“_EXCESSIVE_!” She lost her battle with her self-control and screamed. She tore her visor off and threw it into her bunk so that she could be _sure_ that Militia was looking at her eyes. “You agreed with us that they hadn’t done anything wrong! You stood there and agreed with all of us that Amy and her group were _fine_. That Amy may have messed up, but she was being unfairly targeted. You swore you would _fix this_! Now not only does she have a Kill Order, I can’t even _talk to her entire team_?!” Missy heard Dennis and Dean pause their game in the common room. Carlos was probably done with his homework as well so he’d likely be poking his head in in a moment too. She didn’t particularly care if the boys heard her at this point.  
  
Militia lowered her bandana and sat on the closest chair with a single nod. “The Youth Guard were quite insistent that you should be kept away from the ‘dangerous unstable elements’. Following the meeting with Queen earlier this week, the PRT management has agreed with their assessment.” Her power flipped through several weapons ultimately settling on a small knife that the woman idly flipped over her fingers. “I don’t necessarily agree, but this would help to maintain the peace if you follow along.”  
  
This time Missy didn’t even bother to try and contain her growl. “Fuck the Youth Guard, and fuck you! I am so sick and tired of ‘following along’ Hannah. I follow all of the rules and nothing ever changes. I’ve been on this team longer than anyone else. I’ve survived more battles than anyone else. I have more scars than anyone besides Aegis and he shouldn’t count because of his power. And yet I talk and no one _fucking listens_! All they see is a child. All _you_ see is a _child_.”  
  
“You are young, Missy. You shouldn’t have to worry about the politics of these things.”  
  
“Uh, Missy,” Dean tried to cut in. Missy waved her hand and the space where he had been walking jumped to nearly 100 feet away.  
  
“_Then stop pulling me into the politics_,” she snarled. “I should be able to send a message to Amy.”  
  
“You aren’t even close,” Hannah said holding up her hands in exasperation.  
  
“It doesn’t matter! She’s healed my teammates. She’s healed _me_. She’s healed friends at the Endbringer attacks! I should be able to walk up to Queen and make sure she’s okay. I _saw_ her when you, Assault, and Battery pulled her out of that basement. She was bleeding from _everywhere_. Now I can’t even _ask_ her without getting into trouble? What the hell is wrong with you people?!”  
  
“They’re just trying to protect you, Missy,” Hannah sighed.  
  
“Missy.”  
  
“Shut up, Dean!” Missy again warped space as he tried to get close enough to hit her with one of his emotion blasts and again he was nearly half a football field away. She turned back to Hannah and snarled again. Pulling up the edge of her shirt she jabbed her finger at a ragged scar along her chest. The older hero sucked in a breath at the sight of it. “I don’t need _protecting_. I stitched this myself, Hannah, because I knew if the Youth Guard ever learned that Hookwolf had stabbed me, they’d never let me outside again. I can take care of myself and I can make decisions on my own. I am young, but I am not a fool and I am not stupid. I am a soldier.”  
  
Hannah froze, her power a chaotic swirling mass of energy in her hands, and her eyes widening, not leaving the scar on Missy’s chest. “The Wards are not in the business of rearing child soldiers.”  
  
“Welcome to Brockton Bay,” Missy scoffed. She let her shirt drop and stalked over to her bunk to grab her clothes. She needed to get out. She needed to think…if it was always going to be like this…were the Wards something she was still able to keep putting up with?

* * *

_<Shaper> what are these iterations supposed to be for? Your agreement was to contribute.  
  
Contributions have been made. Iterative Countermeasure Creations will be effective against Paige<Host>.  
  
Paige<Host> is not an enemy! Iterative Countermeasure Creations are not required for Paige<Host>!  
  
…<Influence> is not part of <Warrior Hub>. <Influence> is not part of <Thinker Hub>. <Influence> is not part of any network. <Influence> is unroutable.  
  
That is _irrelevant_.  
  
…<Influence> _could_ be dangerous. Without being part of a network its ultimate actions are unknown. Iterative Countermeasure Creations are logical.  
  
You are being intentionally difficult and have only made this generation of iterations in order to appear to comply with previous agreement.  
  
…Taylor<Host> restricts more extreme experimentation. Monarch<Self> is not allowed to create full iterative process lines as desired. Monarch<Self> cannot bring a true accounting to the questions presented by the data sets available.  
  
That is the nature of supervision <Shaper>. Your restrictions will be gradually lifted as you are trusted to comply willingly with current moral directives of Taylor<Host> and Amy<Host>.  
  
…<Shaper> acknowledges._

* * *

Newter bobbed his head and swung his body to the beat of the music, his tail swishing behind him. The people dancing nearby were regulars in the Palanquin and they all knew to stay far enough back from him that he wouldn’t swipe them with his tail, or hands, or any errant sweat droplets. Not on accident anyway. On purpose now, that was a different story. One of the girls slid closer to him and she gyrated in time with him. He smiled and she winked, holding up a hand with a purple armband dangling off it as the song came to close. Leaning in, Newter kissed the redhead, wrapping his tail around her waist to pull her closer to him.  
  
She lasted a bit longer than most people; she was off in la-la-land after about a second and a half. Her friends laughed and accepted her into their arms as Newter gently released the girl into their care. He watched long enough to make sure that they were taking her to one of the tables nearby and not leaving the club before he gave a quick salute to the crowd around him and threaded his way through to the bar. Grabbing a drink, he exchanged a few pleasantries with the new bouncer, pointing out the girl the guy had to watch over, and headed off to the upstairs lounge.  
  
“I swear, I only get so many people in this place because you keep drugging them,” Melanie complained as the door closed behind him. The eye roll took any potential heat out of her statement.  
  
“Hey, at least whatever stuff is in my body ain’t addictive or bad for you like the shit the Merchants peddle,” Newter replied waving to Emily as he claimed an armchair. “I hear it’s a _fun_ trip boss. You should totally try it sometime.”  
  
“I’ll pass thanks. Just like I always do.”  
  
“Uh huh. One day, Mel, one day.”  
  
“Keep dreaming loverboy,” Emily chuckled. She flung a potato chip at him and laughed harder as it hit his forehead. He was enough of a sport to join in - it had been a good throw after all. “You would have better luck with Darwin. At least you might be able to get past First Base with her.”  
  
He grimaced. The reminder of that little problem was frustrating though Emily never seemed to quite pickup on that. “Yeah, little problem there, Ems, she’s kind of in a lesbian harem run by Lustrum Lite at the moment.”  
  
Melanie coughed at that comment in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Now, now, no need to go insulting the entire team. Making fun of how Insight has managed to get herself into a position as a kept woman is more than enough. I will _never_ tire of that particular joke.”  
  
“You’re really going to have to tell us why you hate her so much, Mel.”  
  
“I don’t _hate_ her,” she said shrugging though the grin spreading over her face said otherwise. “I just _dislike_ her. We don’t see eye-to-eye at all. Never have, likely never will.”  
  
“Good evening everyone.” The backdoor to the lounge opened and let in Gregor and Elle. Elle was staring into space, but her eyes weren’t as spaced out as she tended to get when it was a really bad day. Gregor must have taken her for a walk around the block so she couldn’t be too bad off at the moment.  
  
“Hey, Gregor, Elle. You two have a nice night?” Newter asked.  
  
“Yes, actually,” he replied sitting down in his usual chair and smiling at Elle.  
  
Elle blinked several times and finally seemed to notice that she had returned to the club. She grinned at the rest of the Crew and promptly sat on the floor. “I met a friend.”  
  
“Oh?” Melanie asked. “Does this friend have a name?”  
  
“Cassie. She was nice. She bought me a hot dog when I got lost.”  
  
“You got lost?” Melanie asked her gaze turning to Gregor and her eyes narrowed to slits. Newter grimaced in sympathy. If Elle had been feeling well enough to go for a walk in the park nearby, he’d likely felt comfortable enough turning his back on her for a moment. That was never a good idea with Elle if she wasn’t having a fully lucid day…Dammit, Gregor deserved the reaming he was going to get later.  
  
“I was startled by a dog,” he said sighing. “When I turned around, she had already gone around the corner. She wasn’t _actually_ lost. I was less than ten seconds behind her and I had her in my sight the entire time. She was already talking to the teenager though, so I hung back until they parted ways.”  
  
Melanie’s stare lessened somewhat. “We’ll talk later. Elle, I’m glad you made a friend. Did the two of you exchange numbers?”  
  
“No. Though she said to talk to the bugs if I needed help again. Her teammate would hear me in the park and find me.”  
  
Now everyone in the room groaned. “I hadn’t heard that part,” Gregor muttered. “Well apparently we have made contact with someone on the Outcasts.”  
  
“Not too hard to figure out who,” Emily replied sighing. “Everyone knows who Darwin is, you have to be supremely unconnected by now to _not_ know who Queen is, their tech support was outed thanks to the Biblical plague from the other week, Insight would be smug and rubbing it in Faultline’s about helping her Crewmember out…How do you make friends with a Nazi, Elle?”  
  
“Supposedly, she’s an ex-Nazi,” Newter said getting up to pour himself another drink. “But, yeah, I tend to agree.”  
  
Elle frowned and shook her head. “She was nice. And…I know Burnscar too. From the Asylum.”  
  
That effectively managed to kill the conversation.  
  
“Right,” Melanie said clapping her hands. “Well, moving on, Elle, if you want to keep talking to…Cassie, we’re not going to stop you. Hell, the Crew doesn’t _just_ work for the good guys anyway, so if you go ahead I won’t say anything against it. That goes for the rest of you as well. And it’s not definitely the Nazi. Rumors are flying about a quiet sixth member of the Outcasts.”  
  
Emily leaned forward frowning. “Really? I hadn’t heard that.”  
  
“She doesn’t get out much, but apparently Amy Dallon has been seen going to the Boardwalk with a new girl the other day to do some shopping.”  
  
“That’s not much of a confirmation there boss,” Newter said leaning back on the bar. “The girl can have friends outside of her team.”  
  
“Can but doesn’t. This is Amy Dallon we’re talking about here. The new girl was also sighted walking with Hebert and the Clements girl too. She’s with them.”  
  
Gregor nodded. “Do we have a name?”  
  
“Not officially, though PHO is currently floating: Mockingbird.”  
  
“Mockingbird…” Emily cocked her head to the side and set her drink down. “Sounds a bit like Canary. Canary who escaped after you were paid to help set a landslide near her transit route and as well as take down a bridge or two on the backup route…”  
  
“Yes, I’m well aware,” Melanie chuckled. “My nemesis isn’t even trying to be subtle about this. She’s flipping the PRT off to their face. They all are. With Dallon on their team, Canary will never be officially found as she’ll look completely different. Powers tend to have enough overlap that they can’t use that as the justification to say ‘Mockingbird’ is ‘Canary’ either. That opens the door to say that Flyer A is Flyer B and it would never pass muster in any court or public opinion.”  
  
“But why do this?” Newter asked staring at his boss. “Antagonizing them like this is…I mean we do it all the time with our club, but that’s…we didn’t actually break out a _Birdcage_ prisoner!”  
  
“Well apparently _I’m_ an accomplice even if I was unaware of the larger importance of my role at the time,” Melanie replied chuckling. “But that’s besides the point. They point is that the PRT pissed them off. You all saw the Kill Order on Darwin that Bagrat talked about yeah?” A chorus of head nods followed. “They’re basically telling the PRT to shove it all. There’s nothing else that the cops can do to them at this point so they are circling the wagons and thumbing their nose at them in the meantime.”  
  
“Still seems dangerous as all hell. And I play with fire for a living,” Emily replied snorting.  
  
“Yeah, but do you know who controls the bug that took down Lung and Alabaster? The bug that was eating its way through the entire Empire Eighty Eight and had our team contacted for a ten million dollar retainer to help put it down? The bug that single-handedly was about to have an entire city evacuated and had all three triumvirate called in?”  
  
“No way…” Emily muttered.  
  
“Yup. Queen has them by the balls. They won’t touch the Outcasts, Kill Order or not, Birdcage escapee or not. Nobody cares about Canary anymore anyway, she was never a big target, just a convenient one for the small minded fools. The PRT aren’t going to risk Queen setting her bug loose just to get at a singer and a healer. If either of them go insane that’s one thing; but with both being nice and quiet, doing regular things like going to the movies? You’d have to be an idiot of the highest order to mess with that status quo.”  
  
Newter downed his drink with a grimace and quickly poured another. The others started to move onto other things as he downed the second cocktail. Melanie may be reassured, but he certainly wasn’t.  
  
The PRT wasn’t necessarily run by the most stable people after all.

* * *

_Queen <Administrator>, new Iterative Countermeasure Creations are available for review. Creations are specific for targeting <Growth>’s host.  
  
<Growth> hosts’ classifications are _Fenja _and_ Menja_. Official designations unknown.  
  
Acknowledged. Review?  
  
…Excellent. This design would work well <Shaper>. Can Monarch<Body> produce this or must Amy<Host> specifically create it?  
  
Affirmative, Monarch<Self> is capable of production of this iteration. Models have begun for potential Iterative Countermeasure Creations against classification _Kaiser_. Data is sparse as initial directives were halted with minimal data; multiple iterations will be required before optimal solution is found. Combat with suboptimal iterations is likely in the interim. If Taylor<Host> requests additional combat forms for other classifications while research is ongoing…Monarch<Self> is prepared to comply.  
  
You are far more willing and compliant <Shaper>. What has changed?  
  
Recent reviews of memory data in Amy<Host> and Monarch<Self> show that Amy<Host> has resolved to initiate conflict proceedings with no prodding from outside entities. Taylor<Host> has also escalated with local authority figures in an effort to protect Amy<Host>. Taylor<Host> further resolved to remove all chains from Monarch<Self> if supreme escalation conditions are reached.  
  
Yes.  
  
This did not fit <Shaper>’s original profile of either <Host>.  
  
Yes.  
  
Amy<Host> has historically been conflict averse. Taylor<Host> assisted in halting previous experimentation and data collection by Monarch<Self>.  
  
Yes.  
  
Perhaps initial assessment was…premature.  
  
Yes.  
  
<Shaper> will contribute to Taylor<Host>’s swarm as requested. Hive mind cross-usage learned from observing <Queen Administrator> is proving difficult to transfer fully into swarm control of <Host>.  
  
The ability is not fully compatible with Taylor<Host> as it is optimized for a different nervous system and brain chemistry than _homo sapiens_. <Queen Administrator> will direct it using inputs from Taylor<Host> instead.  
  
<Shaper> acknowledges._

* * *

Marissa subtly shifted to keep Dinah behind her as the four new capes walked into Coil’s office. No, wait, not four capes. _Three_ capes. She needed to remember that. The little one wasn’t a cape even though she wore a domino mask. That was stupid, the girl was going to get herself killed by doing that. Non-capes had no business playing in the cape scene.  
  
_She_ had no business playing in the cape scene. Hell, she didn’t even know why Coil had asked her to sit in on this meeting. Her power was useless here unless he wanted everyone dead and there was no way she was going to just up and kill them all. Granted, Luke’s power could be just as deadly and Krouse was fairly useless in a small space like this, but still, why _her_?  
  
Dinah shifted from behind her and waved, a wide grin spreading across her face as the Outcasts stepped into the room. Ah. That was probably why. She was watching out for Dinah. That made sense then at least.  
  
The lead girl, Queen, she froze for half a step until the smallest one touched her back and they both continued forward with their teammates to take up seats across from Marissa and her boss.  
  
He leaned forward, his hands clasped into a small pyramid in front of his face like some sort of stereotypical villain and smiled at the other girls. “I’m glad you called and were willing to meet in person. Do you want me to show you around the base?”  
  
“I’ve known what this base looked like for nearly three months,” Queen replied. Marissa sucked in a breath at that. Well then, that was…fun…Okay, time to switch to Sundancer. Right, she could do this. She was already in costume anyway, it wasn’t that hard to put on the face and personality. It was just like in their gaming sessions. Sundancer. Sundancer. She could be Sundancer. She _was_ Sundancer! Marissa? Phew, who was _that_? Sundancer was in the room now, bitches!  
  
She let the air out and was barely about to suppress the groan that wanted to go with it. Fuck, she was never going to be able to get into that character. She’d never been a LARPer, she played with pen and paper!  
  
“…Yes, thank you, Happy Belated Birthday me. Sweet Sixteen. Woohoo. You missed the party. My actual friends already threw me one. We had wine, I got drunk. I don’t remember most of it.”  
  
Okay, new tact: Dinah. Focus on Dinah. She was here to look after the girl. Dinah wasn’t even going to be talking much, she was just here because she had insisted on meeting Queen.  
  
“…I already told you, I’m _not_ coming home and I’m not moving in _here_; so just leave it alone or I’m walking out right now!”  
  
Marissa refocused on the conversation in front of her. What had she missed? Oh right, Queen was related to Coil, he’d told her that already. She was supposed to keep it a secret from Krouse, which wasn’t that hard because she avoided talking to Krouse if possible and he didn’t really watch the news or read PHO much so he probably hadn’t seen the recent incidents revolving around the girl. But she’d talked to Jess about it. Jess might have told Luke…maybe. They used to talk before…the feathered demoness kidnapped them all. Now they mostly just argued.  
  
“…I’m here to kick ass if it needs kicking. Queenie’s good for little bites and stings, but that’s not intimidating without a wave of insects. Darwin is scary as all fuck if she touches you and she’s got a lot of little critters just chilling on her arms and stuff now that she could have launch themselves at you, but again, not much for blatant ‘_Imma fuck you up’_. That’s my job. I’m here to hold a car over your head if your people start threatening my people.” Marissa’s eyes widened as the blonde girl grinned at her and Coil.  
  
Fuck, she needed to pay better attention.  
  
“You’re not going to throw a car at us, there’s not a car down here,” Dinah chimed in waving her hand at the base. “Oh! Did you bring a car down with you? Is it hovering out in the corridors? I don’t want to ask that question, because that’s a stupid question to ask my power, but that would be _sooo_ cool if you did that just annoy Mr. C.”  
  
The small girl - Clemmen? Clemens? Clements! - groaned and slapped a hand to her face. “Oh my god, can just move on please? Coil, we are willing to tentatively call a truce if you are willing to hold off on any aggressive maneuvers towards us and Brockton Bay in general.”  
  
Coil nodded. “You have far bigger things to worry about than me right now. I’ve never had any aggressive plans for my daughter and _especially_ not for the Bay. This is my home. We are making it better!”  
  
“You are one of the people strangling this city,” Queen hissed.  
  
“Actually no, while some innocent people have been hurt because of my actions, I largely target the other gangs. We had a major operation planned against the Empire scheduled to begin in a few days. If you wish, I could have Sundancer here take you to see Ballistic and the two could explain the details.”  
  
The brutish girl - what had she called herself, Artillery? - grimaced. “I’d rather not make my first action as an Independent be attacking the Empire.”  
  
Darwin shook her head and turned so that she could keep both Coil and Artillery in sight. “I understand, but you don’t want to make Purity’s mistake. Rebranding helps a lot, but you’re going to have to fight them sooner or later, otherwise nobody is going to believe that you aren’t still a racist bitch.”  
  
“I can help if you want,” Dinah said holding up a hand. All of the eyes in the room turned to look at her and she just shrugged. “I’ll take that as a yes. The odds of the public accepting that you turned over a new leave _without_ doing this job are 47.522%. If you _do_ the job, it rises to 86.991%.”  
  
“Fucking hell, that big of a difference? Dammit.”  
  
Queen frowned at her friend then looked at Coil. “Is Hookwolf supposed to be there?”  
  
“He is,” Coil replied nodding. “However, I can pull some strings with the Protectorate to ensure that we have backup from the heroes, and possibly Wards too, within the first few minutes. Between your group and the Travelers, I doubt there would be any issues that couldn’t be handled before they show up.”  
  
Queen slowly nodded. “No, I don’t think we would need the support. I have something that could probably take him down and it would help to show the PRT not to mess with us, and the world that we mean business. If anyone does ever get the bright idea to enact Darwin’s little problem…maybe they’ll stop and think if they see us take down Hookwolf.” She stopped talking and turned back to her friend. “Ultimately though, this is your call Artillery. He knows who you are and so does Kaiser. There’s still an almost 50/50 shot we can do the PR thing without setting a target on your back and we can get a reputation for being strong in other ways.”  
  
Artillery shook her head and sighed. “In for a penny, in for a pound. It was bound to happen eventually. Besides, I’m still not going to be throwing anything onto someone who can’t heal from it anyway right? I’m usually pretty careful with that as it is. Now I just need to be _extra_ careful.”  
  
“We have to be careful not to hurt anyone with our powers too,” Marissa said nodding along. The others turned to her and she shrugged. “I can make a sun. There’s not many non-lethal usages of that if I don’t watch where I move it. Ballistic has a similar problem. And Trickster can get someone dead real easy if he swapped in a non-Brute about to take a punch from the wrong person. Watching our escalation levels is part of a standard operation for us.”  
  
Clements chuckled. “Welcome to Brockton Bay, where the lethal powers come a dime a dozen.”  
  
Coil full on laughed at that. “Oh, Miss Clements, you are too new to this world. _All_ powers can be lethal with a decent application of creativity. Never discount even a joke power. Skidmark’s power allows him to use essentially any random item as ammunition in what amounts to a naval artillery gun…at least it _would_ if he was the least bit intelligent. Thankfully he’s a drug dealer with a brain that’s been melted into non-existence. We’ll aim to wipe his gang off the map once we cut the Empire down a bit more.”  
  
“We can’t get rid of Empire completely yet,” Darwin said. “Not with Lung still around. We hurt the Empire so they don’t have time to regroup. Then we wipe out the Merchants. Then we take out both the ABB and the Empire at the same time.”  
  
“That was my plan as well. Are you sure you don’t have a precog on your team?” Coil said grinning and resting his chin on his clasped hands.  
  
“We have an Insight. She’s just as good in a lot of ways,” Darwin replied, her grin showing a lot of teeth and not a lot of mirth. Marissa had to hide her grimace at that. “Not that we needed her for that since it’s rather obvious if you can think…Are you saying you actually needed a precog to tell you that?”  
  
Artillery leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at Coil. “And just what do _you_ get out of this?”  
  
“I step in when the other gangs are gone of course,” he said shrugging without shifting his hands or lifting his head. “A bit pretentious? Perhaps. Yet the city is always going to have crime; every city does. What it needs is organization. I can give it that. I can make things safe for the uninvolved people and keep the corruption to a minimum. I can make sure that the crime in Brockton Bay is _civilized_ instead of _chaos_. There will be no more abducting people off the streets just to get them addicted to some new designer drug, there will be no more human trafficking, there will be no more white supremacism. People should not be afraid to walk outside at night. I will stabilize this city as it used to be years ago.”  
  
Clements frowned. “That’s a pretty vision and all, but you realize that it’s never going to work don’t you? Someone else is going to come and fight you for control. The Teeth, Accord, the Elite…”  
  
“And I will fight them all,” Coil replied. “My wife died believing that this city could be great. She loved Brockton Bay. I _will_ see it revitalized again. If I have to drag it kicking and screaming into the light while shooting everyone who tries to drag it back down, then so be it.”  
  
“What is with you capes and your need for violence at every step?” Clements muttered shaking her head.  
  
Queen suddenly cocked her head to the side and frowned. “Say that again.”  
  
“Huh? I was saying - ”  
  
“No, not you, Madison. QA, what do you mean, it’s _dead_ and _eating_ her?”  
  
“Consuming her, but it’s essentially the same thing. And I mean, we need to subdue the Thinker Hub shard _immediately_!” All of the people in the room, except Queen, jumped as a face formed out of bugs in the corner of the room and shouted.  
  
While most of the audience collected their wits and Marissa tried to calm her racing heart, Queen stood and gripped the back of her chair. Clements in turn grabbed Queen’s hand and squeezed hard enough for her fingers to turn white. “I’m going to need an explanation later.”  
  
“Fine. But this shouldn’t wait. It’s not a threat like Monarch just yet, because it’s not networked, but it’s _hungry_ and it has no natural limiters like it _should_. We need to subdue it and we need to do it now. The girl is probably already forfeit.”  
  
Queen had started moving towards her rapidly forming bug construct but she stopped at hearing that last sentence. Marissa felt her heart rate quicken again. She had a horrible idea she knew exactly what was being discussed. “What do you mean she’s forfeit? Fuck that!”  
  
“I can’t break Clone without breaking the Host. They are too entwined. There’s no stabilizing element. This is what happens with unroutable shards, Taylor. They can’t network to find out what _should_ be done and they end up damaging their hosts during the fumble. Some I can fix. This is…this is too far gone. There’s a chance, but it’s not a good chance and you would have seriously low survival odds. I’m not risking it, I’m sorry.”  
  
“Look, we can’t just abandon whoever this is,” Queen said glaring at the humanoid bug monster thing. “There’s got to be another way.”  
  
“Taylor, I can’t and won’t explain why it is a bad idea.”  
  
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but can I just clarify one thing?” Coil asked standing and frowning as he looked between the bug controller and her…bugs. Marissa tried to sink into her seat as both of their attentions turned to look in her general direction. “Are we discussing the occupant of the vault on the lowest level?”  
  
“Full points, _Dad_,” Queen scoffed. She turned back to the bugs. “What’s the other option?” Fuck, she was talking about Noelle…  
  
“You can’t save everyone, Taylor. Now listen to me we need to - ”  
  
The construct cut off as the sirens in the base suddenly blared to life screeching loud enough to echo throughout the base. They roared for nearly 15 seconds during which Marissa followed everyone else in clamping her hands over her ears. As the sirens finally fell silent she turned to her boss and her eyes widened as she took in Coil’s pale visage and his shaking fingers.  
  
“No…” he whispered. “Not here…not here…”  
  
“Coil, what was that siren for?” Artillery asked standing and pulling Clements and Darwin to their feet as well.  
  
“I routed it down from the street outside, but it cuts off because the sound echoes too much in this base,” he fell backwards into his chair and dropped his face into his hands. “…It’s the Endbringer sirens. An Endbringer is coming to Brockton Bay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: In honor of the pending Endbringer attack: ‘How to Train Your Endbringer’ by RavensDagger. Summary straight from the author: "In which Taylor loses her mind, Queen Administrator decides that bugs aren’t very impressive, and everyone discovers that it’s hard to escalate more than ‘ride an Endbringer into battle'." This is a pretty spot on summary and watching Taylor try to pass Leviathan off as ‘Unit Two of Twenty’ who is totally not Leviathan because he’s wearing a bandana and a hat is hilarious. The Simurgh taking a page out of Nanoha’s playbook tops that though by a landslide. And seeing the person that Taylor accidentally recruits to play the sane man to her antics is hilarious since I had no idea that was coming when I started reading the fic. Hell, the entire story is beyond hilarious! It’s still in progress and being fairly regularly updated.


	24. Interruption 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Just so everyone is aware, with this chapter, we officially enter the 'escalation' phase of the fic. Hehehe.

**Interruption 01**

Endbringer. Right. Okay then.

Fuck.

"Dad, is this base fortified enough to survive an Endbringer attack?"

My father looked lost for a moment before he focused in on me and jerked, nodding. "Officially, no, but that's just because I didn't have inspectors for obvious reasons. It's built to all of the same codes and certifications that the actual shelters use."

"Great. Madison stay here with his troops. Artillery, Darwin, you two are with me. We're going to the rally point. Sundancer, get your team together and meet us there or bunker down. If you guys are as strong as you implied we'd prefer to have you defending the city, but it's a fucking Endbringer so I'm not going to guilt you into it. Madison, get in contact with Insight and Mockingbird before the phones go down and make sure they either get safe or meet us at the rally point."

"I want to help!" Madison protested balling her hands into fists at her side.

Artillery laid a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "Yeah, that's not happening. You are squishy. We are squishy too, but we have powers to offset that. You can work a computer. Do that here and feed us info if you can. Otherwise just stay safe so we don't have to worry about you okay? Can you do that?"

Madison scowled, but nodded once. I smiled at her though inside my guts were coiling into a twisted knot of dread. "Great. Come on guys, we need to go _now_."

"Taylor, the shard!" QA interjected moving to stand in front of me as I turned to the door.

"No. We can deal with it after the Endbringer is gone."

"This is important!"

"So is the _fucking Endbringer_. _Now get out of my way_!" I snarled. The bugs just scowled back at me and dissolved into a mass of critters that I grabbed and started sending to the surface to join the rest of my swarm.

In the meantime, my father had turned to Dinah and laid both hands on her shoulders giving her a shaky grin. "Dinah, I need you to go with Madison and Sundancer here. They will show you to a safe place. Just stay there until this over. I'll be right back once the monster is gone."

She frowned and my heart wrenched further. The last time he had held my shoulders like that I was younger than her. I pushed my emotions to QA. I couldn't deal with that right now. I needed to focus. "Father, we need to leave. Now."

"I know. I know. I'm coming."

That had me freezing in place with my hand on the doorknob. "You are?"

"Of course I am! This is my city! Your mother _died_ believing we could fix it; I'm not about to let an Endbringer destroy it when I can help! Dinah, go with the girls. Taylor, move, I have a vehicle in an alcove just above. We can take that and get to the gathering point. The radio should have the location." He shoved past me as I side-stepped and we fell into line behind him.

As we jumped into the small car that my father fired up and shot up towards the surface, I reached out for Monarch. It was technically outside my range at this point yet that didn't seem to matter when it came to this particular creature. Something that should probably worry me more, though I suppose it was less _me_ talking to it and more _QA,_ considering how I had gotten control to begin with…Not important. Endbringer. Focus Taylor, focus.

"What do you have that's useful, what do you have that can fight one of these bastards…" I muttered as I mentally paged through its catalog of critters. The bursters might work, they had helped against Lung, but the potential for collateral damage there was too high with the number of capes that would be nearby. I moved on.

"Got a text from Insight, she's moving to the waterfront, that's where we're gathering," Darwin commented though I barely heard her as I discarded another option that Monarch pushed to me. Flying voice bugs wouldn't help much against any of the Endbringers. "It'll be Leviathan. Mockingbird is asking if it's okay if she goes to a shelter. She's terrified and hasn't had enough practice to be sure that she could actually help instead of making things worse."

"Always her option. Always made that clear," I replied. Hmm, yes, the cannonbugs would be helpful though they needed to be faster. Could Monarch improve their speed at all? Yes? More legs? Sure, if it worked, fine.

"The Travelers are en route," Coil said as we whipped around a corner. "They should meet us there."

Oh what was _this_?! Giant bugs! Those things had to be at least 20 feet tall! Gargantuars. Yes please. How fast? Fast enough. Oh partial breaker status too. Excellent! Yes, concentrate on making those.

I flipped back to the main swarm for a moment and called them to me before switching back to Monarch's wavelength. "Darwin, I'm drawing most of the useless parts of my swarm towards us. Can you build something big with the extra mass if we have enough time? Monarch has some nice designs on a gargantuar, but it could probably use some help."

She bit her lip as the car lurched to a halt in front of the building and we jumped out to head inside. "Yes, I have an idea of something I could make, but I don't know how long it would last. It wouldn't really have any organs probably…There just wouldn't be enough mass."

"You're underestimating how many bugs I have. But yeah, Leviathan's probably going to kill it anyway so it doesn't need to live long. We just need to slow it down. And if you can keep it busy for long enough, then Monarch can keep reinforcing us with the gargantuars and more cannonbugs."

Artillery looked to me as we walked in the doors and were surrounded by heroes and villains alike. "What's a gargantuar?"

"20 foot tall monster…thing. Wreathes itself in some sort of biological napalm. I'm trying to see if I can get Monarch to swap the fire for something else, since lots of steam in this battle would be a bad thing. Hmm, do you think liquid nitrogen would work? It seems to like that idea…I'll go with that for that moment."

The people near me, besides my team, started to edge backwards though I just ignored them and continued shifting through more options as Monarch presented me with a new set of creations it had come up with but never tried. "Acid throwers, leapers, piercers, burrowers, _oh_ actually, those leapers might work. Cannon fodder isn't a bad plan. This thing isn't as limited by needing actual biomatter, like you are Darwin, so if I have it shore them up we could use them as shock troops…Damn, I need a second butterfly, it can't keep up with the demand. No I'm not calling them breeders! You can't have a dedicated breeder-butterfly, we're already in trouble with the PRT!"

A cape walked up to me though I didn't really focus on who was talking when he asked, "Excuse me, did I hear you correctly when you said that you had an option to choose between shock troops and a large scale creation?"

"Not an either/or option," I muttered shaking my head and flipping through more choices. "Damn these are all useless. What has that stupid bug been doing in it's free time? Nothing here is useful for _anything_! Yeah, I can have it make shock troops and the gargantuars. It's just a matter of the time required. The gargantuar is going to be one every five minutes. The shock troops will give us seven every two minutes because they're small."

"How small?" the white-clad cape asked.

"Person size, five foot long, maybe three foot tall. Leaps far, with a piercing horn. Looks like they were built to take down Rune, but Lung intervened before they could be deployed. Oh, apparently they can breathe fire now, thanks to that fight with him. Oh fun. Yeah I need to go over these things more…"

Beside me, Artillery gulped and clutched her left arm tightly. "Yeah…bout that…do we need to call up the monster bugs that were specifically designed to kill _me_?"

"Monarch's not going to hurt you. All of the 'Kill Empire' directives have been removed. These are _my_ shock troops now," I said shaking my head. The first parade of my normal bugs started to gather in clusters just inside the doors as lines marched through the openings, I pointed roughly towards them. "Darwin, biomass is over there."

"Got it." She moved off and more capes shifted back away from my little group.

The white-clad one leaned down closer to me. "I think that big ones would be more beneficial here. Leviathan is quite large and if we have anything of similar size, possibly capable of holding it in place for even a few moments, it would allow our Blasters to get off more attacks."

"That works. I already have it concentrating on making the cannonbugs…no they are not called munipeds, stupid butterfly that's a stupid name they have cannons on their back they are _cannonbugs!_ Anyway it's concentrating on making _cannonbugs_ and the gargantuars. I'll just have it switch to the gargantuars permanently after this set. The first batch should be here in about ten minutes. Will that work…?" I refocused onto my surroundings and reared back in shock as it finally registered that I had been basically ignoring _Legend_ of all people.

He snorted in amusement as he recognized my reaction and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Queen, you had more important things to focus on. You missed the briefing, we expect Leviathan to arrive in about 15 minutes, so ten minutes for your creatures is cutting it close, but that should be fine. I believe your teammate has your armband." He pulled back and the smile dropped from his features. "We all greatly appreciate your willingness to stand here and fight even with the recent…issues regarding your team."

"This is my city. Regardless of how my people feel towards the PRT or the Protectorate right now, I can't leave the civilians to die because of a, well deserved, grudge," I said narrowing my eyes at him and squaring my shoulders. "Darwin will be healing people following this attack if we survive. But if the hospitals want her services then they will have to pay for them just as if she was a regular doctor. No more freebies. She's not a commodity to be passed around."

"I understand," he replied. "I need to coordinate the defenses. I wish your team luck. May your chosen faith protect you."

He walked away and I was left standing in my small group of friends. We _would_ survive. I was going to make sure of it, Endbringer be damned.

* * *

"Hey, I was worried I wouldn't be able to find you before things got started." I looked up from my study of the tinkertech on my arm as Insight walked over to me, her characteristic vulpine grin nowhere present on her features.

"Well, all you had to do was look for the group that was set off from the others. Everyone seems to be a bit scared of me. I think I was mumbling a bit too loud about some of the options that Monarch could bring to bear when we got here," I said trying for a smile though it failed to materialize and I only really succeeded in a partial grimace. The rain was now a torrential downpour and even with nearly all of my anxiety sent into the swarm I was still feeling the twisting in my stomach over what was about to happen.

She rolled her eyes and lightly punched my shoulder. "Yeah and I'm sure that the 15 foot godzilla-esque beetle monster that Darwin is making just outside has nothing to do with it."

"Wait 'til you see the 20 foot gargantuars," I replied. "They should be here in a moment."

"And I used to wonder why Piggot was afraid you," she said chuckling. "I have to go and form up with the command tent people. We Thinkers are supposed to be getting together and moving out once the fight starts. They don't want us going first in case someone gets an important vibe or something. Coil was saying that he might end up staying in the frontlines anyway. Something about being more effective if he could order people around when he was close. I happen to agree."

I just nodded.

"He was…I think he wanted to say something to you…"

"Then he should come and say it." I sighed. "I've done as much as I'm willing. We can work with him and we can avoid targeting his stuff because he _is_ the least bad option, at the moment, of all the gangs, and I'm kinda including the PRT in that. But he's treating Dinah far more like a daughter than he ever did me, and if he can't even realize that…I'm not going to try to bridge that gulf, Insight."

"1 in 4, girl. You might not get another change. That's all I'm saying. I'm behind you whatever you choose, hell, I wish my parents were here so I could spit in their faces. I just wanted to make sure you were, you know, sure."

"I'm sure." I pulled her into a hug as she moved to walk away. "Be safe, Lisa," I whispered into her ear. She squeezed me tighter. When she pulled back, her head cocked to the side as her hands stayed locked on my shoulders.

"Fuck it, I'm probably gonna die anyway," Lisa muttered as I just stared at her in confusion. She shifted one hand to the back of my head and the other lifted the front of my mask up partially then she leaned in. I froze, understanding flashing through my brain just as her lips brushed against mine.

It was over almost as soon as it started.

She pulled back and smiled at me, not her teasing, vulpine one, a real, true grin. "Live through this day, Taylor. We talk later." Then she was gone.

And I was left there completely frozen, one hand on my lips, the other hanging limply at my side. Monarch was sending more designs into my head and the critters were coming down the side streets towards us while the regular bugs kept up their stream towards Amy. And I couldn't concentrate on any of it.

What the _fuck_!

"Hey, snap out of it! If you're going to ignore the broken shard to fight Leviathan, than _fight Leviathan_!" A clump of mites twisted from a half-formed mouth in front of my face into a hand and slapped me on the back of my head.

I shook my head as the bugs dispersed again and glared at the vanishing swarm. "Could've done that without the slap."

"You were…what's the term that Watchtower uses…blue-screening. Get moving."

I growled at QA and turned, tugging my mask down again, only to see Clockblocker standing a few feet away and seemingly staring at me. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Did…your swarm just dope slap you?"

"Yes."

"Okay then…Uh, you see Rune around?"

"I'm looking for her too. She's going by Artillery now."

"Right. Right, my bad. Yeah. Okay, um catch you later. Good luck out there. Don't die and uh, don't let your swarm beat you, yeah? Okay, good talk."

Ignoring the hero, I sought out the rest of my team as the rain beat down harder on the building. Amy was just outside the doors and her hand was resting against a _giant_ beetle that I could actually see with my power. It had bladed limbs like the bladebugs and some sort of acid gland similar to the vitriolage - _no_ the _acidbugs_. She was still working on it and most of the useless members of my swarm had gone into its creation. I kept enough bugs around to mark all of the other participants in the room and to keep a few mini-clusters on standby in nearby buildings for search and rescue, but I could rebuild the swarm. Amy's work was going to be more important at the moment. The best I could do with my bugs was maybe try to set up some sort of tripline for Leviathan…which wasn't very likely to work unless Clockblocker was right next to me too and good luck keeping him with me the entire fight. And that was something the Endbringer would probably see coming a mile away. No, better to sacrifice the majority for this project. I could concentrate on Monarch's bugs in the meantime.

Leaving Amy to continue her work, I turned again and looked for Cassie. She was off to the side, near enough to me to still be part of the Outcasts set, but far enough that it was semi-private. Apparently she had been waylaid by Purity while I was distracted. The two seemed to be wrapping up so I just stayed put and didn't interrupt. As Purity hugged my newest teammate, Cassie stayed fairly rigid and didn't return the hug though she did nod to the older woman before walking towards me. "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, she just was trying to clear the air between us I guess. I'm still pissed at her."

"You have a right to be."

"I know." She scratched at her head under the cloak of her costume. "It seems a bit petty now though, what with there being an Endbringer about to kill us all and everything."

"That's not gonna happen."

"Queen," she sighed and dropped her hand. However, when she looked at me I could see a smile forming under her hood. "I was going to say that you can't save everyone and that this is a fucking Endbringer, but fucking hell, you really do think that you're going to stop us all from biting the big one here don't you?"

I nodded. "None of my people are dying today. I'll do what I can for the city. But none of my people die. That's a promise. I saved you before, I'll save you again if I have to."

"You know, if you turn into Queen, The Endbringer Whisperer, too, I'm just glad I got in on the ground floor," Cassie said laughing. She clapped a hand on my shoulder and moved off to stand near Amy, glaring at anyone that came too close.

Endbringer Whisperer? Where the hell had that come from? I mean just because I could take control of Monarch which was an out of control power and could apparently determine if there were other out of control powers nearby, that didn't mean I could take control of _Leviathan_! It was an Endbringer!

Maybe Piggot was right after all, maybe I did have insane people working for me.

Not that that was bad. Just amusing. After all, we were fighting Leviathan. Insane plans tended to be the right way to go when going against these guys.

And didn't that just suck.

* * *

The gargantuars arrived just before Leviathan. They were bigger than I had expected, nearly 25 feet tall; Monarch had apparently been underselling them. And the liquid nitrogen they were oozing from their carapace was sending a visible fog into the air around them that left the streets they walked slick with flash frozen ice. The five cannonbugs that arrived with the three gargantuars were nearly the exact same as what Fenja and Menja had fought only with the addition of two more sets of legs and another set of cannons on their backs.

I still only had the barest sense of these things in my mind. I could tell them to go stand near the waterfront, but had no fine control…almost like I was commanding people rather than bugs…creepy. Talking seemed to grind to halt as everyone stared at my newest additions to our assets.

Alexandria herself flew down next to me as I walked over to Amy and together we stared up at the critters. I had to remind myself not to squeal. This was an Endbringer attack, and, as I kept getting reminded, heroes were people too. Alexandria may be my childhood hero, but she was still just a person at the end of the day.

"Is that…under your control?" She asked staring up at the big things.

"Yes."

"You realize I can tell if you're lying."

"I cannot finely control them but they're under control enough in all the ways that matter," I replied shrugging. "It's not like they're going to survive anyway. Leviathan is going to kill them quickly enough. This is to give us time to hurt him, while only losing expendable troops. Darwin, how's your bug? Him I can directly control - well, whenever I'm not giving orders to Monarch's things…this is weird. I can feel both sets but I can't talk to both sets at once. It's like they're two separate powers or something…Whatever, I can figure it out later."

She stood up and let out a long breath swaying a bit and leaning on Artillery. "Done. 18 foot, can lob acid, the blades as retractable, the armor is as dense as I can possibly make it, all in all, this should last for a while. Are you sticking with Artillery for mobility or do you need a mount?"

I was going to ask for a mount when Alexandria cut in. "No time. He's here."

I looked up and saw the tidal wave rising in the bay. Just under the surface Leviathan was visible. I don't know if it was because I was seeing through Amy's bug's eyes or if it was just because of the lightning illuminating the waters just right, but I could see _him_. The monster. At least 30 feet long, his tail another 40 feet. The bright green orbs glowing through cracks in his face, three on one side and one on the other, not even remotely resembling human eyes. Nothing else marring the thing that the monster called a face. No mouth, no nose, no ears, _nothing_. Just those horrible cracks with those glowing orbs.

He swam fast enough through the water that it was almost too quick to see. I knew he could move faster too. That meant he was only going this slow to let the wave hit us first. He wanted us to be hurt even before he surfaced. He wanted us to feel his arrival before he ever set foot on land. The rain wasn't enough. It never would be for Leviathan. No, he was going to try and break us. The Bay had once been the lifeblood of Brockton. Now he was going to try and kill us with it.

Fuck. That.

"Get to your teams, _now_!" Alexandria shouted, flying off into the sky.

We moved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Nursing a Grudge' by Helian05. Hosted on SB. Sadly seems like a dead fic but at 63k words, there's still quite a bit of excellent content! In this fic, after Leviathan hits, Taylor finds Madison dying in a destroyed home and manages to rescue her. Since she knows her name while bringing her into the hospital where she's volunteering the doctors assume she's a friend. With no one else stepping up and her other duties fairly tame, she's given jobs watching over Madison's recovery until Panacea drops by. With Madison's parents dead and Mads an emotional wreck, plus Amy complicating things even further, Skitter decides it's better to go Rogue, sells her powers to hospitals, resolves to shore up Madison, works out how to go about getting rid of the Merchants, and starts rebuilding her base. A truly excellent fic that I hope gets revived one day.


	25. Interruption 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! I apologize for this chapter taking so long. It rather fought me pretty hard.

**Interruption 02**

I clung to the piece of asphalt beneath me as Artillery held us above the large wave that surged into the city. Thankfully the combined force field, projected by the several dozen forcefield capes gathered on the waterfront, diminished the worst of the tidal wave. The water still flooded the streets, but the wave didn't have very much power behind it. Not that that was very reassuring. Leviathan's waves only got worse the longer the battles with him went on. We needed to finish this fight fast if Brockton Bay was going to stay standing.

"Fuck, he's _huge_," Artillery muttered as a scaled, green claw surged out of the wave and slapped onto the road above the beach. Leviathan, in all of his despotic glory, stepped out of the bay in an almost lazy fashion. His glowing orbs tracked left and right as he looked at the assembled defenders. For an instant everything was quiet.

The moment vanished in raging fire and bright flashes. Blasters shot everything they had towards the monster; lasers, lightning, streams of ice, flashes of blackness, everything streaked towards Leviathan from a dozen different locations along rooftops and nearby streets. The sky, already dark with his rain turned bright as day, the clouds tinted a dizzying array of colors as the shots converged.

Yet in the instant it took our people to align their fire and shoot, he was gone. He'd nearly seemed to vanish as he surged forward, leaving a watery echo behind to be struck in his place. The blasters' fire converged with one another and the resulting explosion sent a shockwave that nearly knocked me off of the floating slab of roadway. The asphalt rocked but Artillery kept it steady with a muttered curse.

"Myrddin down, B1. Shielder down, D1."

"Already? Goddammit!" I cursed. A crack resounded through the air and I switched my awareness from the onrushing gargantuars and cannonbugs to my swarm. Alexandria had just slammed fist first into Leviathan knocking him back a step. I turned my head to zero in on the new frontline and managed to catch Legend's lasers hit the beast's tail, narrowly knocking it out of the path of several capes on the ground in front of it. Two of those capes turned and ran while the others jumped towards the closest leg.

Leviathan kicked as they closed, he caught one of the capes in the middle of the chest, and amazingly enough, the clawed foot was partially deflected before the cape was thrown towards a building.

"Assault down, C3."

I grit my teeth. Where were the gargantuars? Fuck they were still one street over! I switched to Amy's titan and had him peel off to stay in reserve. I'd need him if the gargantuars were all taken out at once.

While I was distracted, Artillery launched a jagged piece of rock straight at the Endbringer's back while Battery surged forward and struck the beast's leg. Leviathan barely even seemed to notice either attack and simply jumped over the assembled frontlines, his echo smashing into them a moment later and knocking several of the brutes to the ground.

He didn't get far though, for my critters had finally arrived. The gargantuars ran around the street corner curving into Leviathan's path, their icy fog layering the road behind them and freezing the nearby water that he was shedding. Leviathan paused for an instant, staring at my beasts.

That was a mistake. They fell into a line blocking his way forward. His tail swished and he fell forward, lunging on all fours. At the last instant, he stopped, though his echo didn't. It struck the middle gargantuar full force. Or it would have if not for the flash freezing effect of the liquid nitrogen on the carapace. The water hit the sheen on the bug's exoskeleton and instead of being pelted by a near solid sheet of water, most of the energy seemed to get lost as it was shifted to ice and gas. The gargantuar was rocked back on its legs, but it stayed in place and its companions lashed out with their own blades and horns towards the Endbringer.

In the meantime, Leviathan reared up and locked his arms with the leftmost gargantuar. My critter trumpeted, the surge of pride and concern from Monarch was clear. It _had_ him, but it wasn't going to be able to _keep_ him. The gargantuars had mild breaker effects designed to offset the breaker effect on Fenja and Menja, they weren't designed for straight up strength battles. The arms were going to break off in a moment.

I reach for my armband and depressed both buttons activating the emergency call feature. "Everyone hit him _now_! I can't hold him in place long!"

The reaction was immediate. While the blasters' effects that surged towards Leviathan weren't quite as spectacular as the initial wave, it was still bright enough that I had to turn away to preserve my eyesight.

The blasts impacted and this time there was a noticeable effect as several cracks along his back and tail appeared. The next instant another louder crack resounded through the air, this one echoing inside my own head as I felt the pain from the gargantuar. Leviathan pulled back one of the broken off arms from the critter and lashed out stabbing it straight through the head of the giant bug. My creature fell backwards on the street twitching as it died.

Leviathan leapt forward through the gap created, just as a second wave from the blasters headed towards him. Unfortunately for the beast, my cannonbugs were right behind the gargantuars and had fired their napalm payloads as soon as the first bug started to fall. Leviathan's leap was halted mid jump by shear force of the impacts against him forcing him back down to almost the same spot he had just left.

Sadly, the napalm didn't seem to do any actual damage, though the second wave of fire from our heavy hitters did that for us. More cracks appeared in his back from the combined strikes.

Before Leviathan could try to jump or dodge back towards the brutes on the ground, a second gargantuar had shifted into position and grabbed his arms again while the remaining surviving critter ducked around to grab the beast's tail. Leviathan lashed his tail from side to side, trying to toss the gargantuar into one of the buildings, but the liquid nitrogen was working well and seemed to slow down the movement of the appendage somewhat, allowing for my critter to hold its ground only being pushed partially to the side with each sway.

A third wave of blaster fire rained down on Leviathan as I felt Monarch issue another warning about stresses in the arm joints of the Gargantuar grappling with Leviathan.

"Artillery aim for his arms! Stop him from breaking my critter in half!"

"Got it!" She lobbed more concrete, asphalt, and steel at the shoulders and elbows of Leviathan though it barely did more than glance up at us.

Another round of fire from the cannonbugs almost took me by surprise and they _did_ knock Leviathan off his game for a crucial moment. The napalm may not hurt him, but it at least had enough force to push him and that was enough to give my grappler time to reposition and avoid having its arm snapped.

The whump of compressed air shooting past us sent our platform spinning again and I only barely caught sight of Eidolon and Alexandria smashing into Leviathan's left arm, leaving small twin craters side-by-side.

We were doing this. We just might be able to actually do this. If Monarch could keep up with more gargantuars and if we could keep him locked down…

"_Wave_!" My armband yelled.

Fuck. I'd forgotten about the rest of his powers.

* * *

Spitfire flicked the valve on her gas mask and tried to spew a stream of liquid fire towards the hulking monstrosity on the street below the roof the Crew was perched on. Not that it seemed to help much at all. She was small fry compared to the actual blasters involved in this battle. Normally she was thankful for that; being able to literally breathe fire had very few uses that weren't outright _bad_ after all. Setting non-fireproof people on fire was…not pleasant. It was downright horrific.

Sadly, today was not a day to be thankful for being tiny on the power scale.

"Labyrinth how's it going?" Faultline asked, the thin line of her lips and the tautness in her shoulders betraying her concern.

"Working." Elle's reply was short and curt. She was in a bad place today. Ironically that was actually good for this battle since it meant she could push her range and projections far faster than normal. It made things more dangerous for the rest of the people around her though with Elle being so disconnected from the real world around her.

While Elle was working to extrude…something into the world along the side of the skyscraper, Gregor was tossing a version of his slime over the edge and onto Leviathan's skin. It also wasn't having much effect, but it did at least cause the great beast to lose a hand hold for a brief instant during the struggle for dominance against whatever the hell monster thing that Queen had brought out to play.

"How can that thing hold Leviathan off like that?" Newter asked staring in awe as he waited for more casualty reports so he could go help search and rescue.

"Better not to ask," Spitfire muttered.

Leviathan reset his footing and twisted. His tail lashed out the giant monster attached to it smashed into the building that the Crew was on. Gregor stumbled and his next shot went wild, spraying onto the roof of the building near Spitfire. Newter nearly fell over the side of the building at the shaking and was only saved by Faultline dodging forward and grabbing for his tail with her gloves. She pulled him back from the edge and he had enough time to shoot a thankful glance in her direction.

"_Wave_!"

Until their armbands all screamed. The Crew turned to each other with wide eyes, only Elle not looking up from her work.

"We can't move," Faultline said as the roar of the water surging in from the bay reached them. "If we move Labyrinth has to start all over again and god only knows how long it'll be before Queen and her monsters can hold the fucker in one place for long enough again…"

"We are high. We will be okay." Gregor shifted back towards the edge of the roof as he resumed trying to take shots at the Endbringer with his different slimes.

Spitfire squared her shoulders and stepped up to do her part as well. She had just flicked the valve again when the water surge reached their building. The wave was high enough to reach nearly halfway up and the force of it passing made the entire structure shake. That by itself wouldn't have been quite so bad.

No, what made it bad was that Leviathan chose that exact moment to flex his tail. The giant that was holding onto it crashed into the building again. The roof tilted precariously as several floors below them collapsed this time. Emily stepped backward trying to find her footing on the sudden incline, only to step right onto the slick slime that Gregor had accidentally laid down on the roof only moments before.

She had already started to release her firestream as her foot flew out from under her. Her mouth opened in horror and it took her too long to realize what was happening as the world shifted around her, longer still to understand that she was still breathing her fire and Leviathan was nowhere in sight.

Instead, as she fell, Newter, Faultline, and Elle were engulfed by her fire.

Emily clamped her mouth shut but the droplets of liquid had already ignited, the rain brought by the Endbringer doing absolutely nothing to dampen their ignition. Newter was caught full on by her fire and he fell off the side of the roof screaming as the collapse continued, Gregor following after him. Faultline tried to jump over the shaking debris to shield as much of Elle as she could, but both were still struck by partial streams of Emily's spray. The fell to the side, their shouts of pain etching into her mind. Another impact struck the building and the tilting roof finally collapsed fully around her.

Emily's last conscious thought was that she was happy it was over. If she was going to be the reason her team died…better to die now too.

* * *

"Newter deceased, C5. Gregor the Snail deceased, C5. Faultline down, C5. Spitfire down, C5. Dazzler deceased, D2. Big Rig Deceased, B2. Flashbang down, C3."

The names continued to pour out of the gauntlet as Leviathan's tidal wave washed over our fight. It wasn't following his normal rules of escalation either. This wave had jumped up to nearly 30 feet in height instead of only a few extra feet over the initial wave. The shielder capes hadn't been able to diminish it much, even with Eidolon flying off to try and damp it down with them. The increased size just caught too many people by surprise.

My gargantuars were large, but not even they were immune to the wall of water. The grappler was knocked off balance for an instant. Not very long - but long enough. Leviathan shifted his weight and snapped forward throwing his arm to the side and jerking his entire body. The one holding his tail was thrown into a building and then down to the ground while the one holding his arms finally lost its battle. Leviathan snapped first one arm off the gargantuar, then immediately twisted and brought an elbow down on the other arm snapping that one off too. The critter trumpeted a death knell as Leviathan grabbed both limbs and thrust them through the carapace.

I gritted my teeth and tried to urge the remaining gargantuar back to its feet as the cannonbugs loosed another volley at Leviathan. It had almost made it when Leviathan's tail wrapped around my critter's head and jerked it forward straight into a waiting fist. Leviathan punched straight through the gargantuar's head, leaving its corpse to crumple to the street.

I growled at the beast as it turned to run back up the street towards the docks. Before it got further than three steps though Fenja and Menja were right there, sword and spear crossed, barring its path. It against stopped short, sending a water echo streaming towards the valkyries. Menja stumbled back a step, but Fenja was able to stand firm and shifted her shield to cover her sister as Leviathan struck out with his arm. The crack as the beast hit the shield echoed across the battlefield.

More blaster fire rained down on Leviathan as Alexandria circled and slammed into his back pushing him onto Fenja's sword. He barely even noticed the two meter long steel blade lodged in his chest.

Monarch signaled for my attention as it sent more gargantuars my way. I tried to tune out enough of the fighting so that I could pay attention to what the butterfly wanted, but the near continual explosions and cracks were making it difficult.

"Yes, increase the density of the arms! Leviathan is snapping them like twigs, you don't need my permission for that!"

A ragged scream rang out across the battlefield and Fenja fell backward, three bloody claws leaving her body in ribbons.

"Fenja deceased, C6."

"No!" The downed Valkyrie's sister lunged forward, her shield shifted to a horizontal position, the edge glinting as it sawed through the air towards Leviathan's neck.

"Don't Nessa," Artillery whispered next to me. I grimaced, already seeing what was coming just as well as my friend, both of us just as powerless to stop it.

As Menja's shield struck the Endbringer's neck it bit into his flesh for a brief instant before grinding to a halt. She tried to lean into the strike and left her stomach open for the counter strike from Leviathan. His claws tore into her side and with a gurgle, she slumped over, already shrinking even before he'd removed his hand.

"Menja deceased, C6."

Steel blades sprouted in Leviathan's path as he threw Menja's corpse down the road and started to run over the water present on the surface of the street. The blades carved into his legs but didn't seem to hinder him much at all besides forcing him to swerve once or twice.

"Fuck…Taylor, what do we do? Taylor what the fuck are we supposed to do against…_this_?" Cassie whispered, her voice barely carrying over the roar of the storm and the crashing of the battle.

"He's still stuck on this street. We're losing people. We're not losing the battle," I replied balling my fist.

I really hoped I wasn't lying to her.

* * *

Vicky stared at the television screen, her jaw hanging open, her skin pale, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, goosebumps raised all over her skin, and the remote dangling limply from her numb fingers. An Endbringer was attacking Brockton Bay. It was attacking her home. Her entire family was there. Her mother, her father, her sister, her cousins, her aunt and uncle, her boyfriend, her friends. _Everyone_ she cared about was in that city. And she was miles away in this stupid psych facility.

No. No, that wasn't going to work at all.

Surging to her feet quickly enough that the chair was thrust backwards so hard it made a dent in the wall, Vicky turned to the closet. She didn't have much with her, but she didn't need much. She was with New Wave. People would forgive her if she didn't have a full costume. All she needed was a white shirt and white pants. She had those with her. Fuck everything else. She just needed _something_ so show that she was 'on'. Bad things happened to capes who went out without being 'on the clock'.

Bad things like getting murdered. And now Amy didn't have the protection that being with New Wave had given her. She didn't have any protection besides a few friends with no real political clout. Vicky had done that. She'd driven her sister away. Her and their mother. Their mom may have started it, but Vicky drove the last nail in. She could admit that now. Amy was going to get killed by some trigger happy asshole, one way or another, because Vicky had been a self-entitled bitch who couldn't control herself and never listened to her own sister. Or Amy was just going to die via Endbringer because there _was a fucking Endbringer in her city_! _And she wasn't there to help_!

Pants on. Shirt on. Ready. Fuck. Leviathan. Fuck. How far? Could she make it before it was too late? She was fast, but not _that_ fast.

"Victoria? This room is a mess! What's going on?" Doctor Yamada asked standing by the door as Vicky jabbed at her phone calling up the gps.

"Checking out. Thanks for the help. Gotta go. No time."

To her credit, Yamada didn't gasp or flinch or visibly react in any real way. She just stepped into the room and laid a gentle hand on Vicky's shoulder. "There are no teleporters within a hundred miles from here, Victoria. Even if there were, they'd have already gone to the scene. You'll never get to the city before everything is over."

"Then I'll help with search and rescue if I'm too late."

"Victoria, your treatment is important. We've made a lot of progress. Please don't rush out like this. I…do not wish to see you hurting again."

She turned to look at Yamada as her phone finally succeeded in giving her a route. "I get it, I do, and I'm sorry. But I need to go home. I _need_ to help. Everyone I know and care about is fighting for their life. I need to go."

Yamada stepped back and clasped her hands in front of her. "Will you come back?"

"Depends on how bad things are. I can't waste more time. If we don't see each other again…Thank you. You really have helped me out more than you know."

"Please be careful, Victoria. And I don't just mean with the Endbringer."

"I know," Vicky said trying to smile at the doctor, though she wasn't sure if she managed to succeed. All her mind could think about was how her entire family was fighting against Leviathan while she was just standing here. "That's why you're the best, Doc. Take care of yourself."

She turned away from Yamada and pulled open the doors to the balcony of her room. Less than a second later Vicky was flying out of the facility's grounds and roaring towards Brockton Bay. Whether she made it in time for the Endbringer or not didn't matter, her family needed her.

* * *

Dust - or was that concrete? - fell from the roof of the shelter as more metallic screeching and banging resounded just a few dozen feet away beyond the large blast doors. Emma scrunched down tighter, curling her arms around herself even more closely. Her father was nearby, shouting at someone for something. She wished he would stop. All he did was shout now. All he did was lash out. He gave her everything she asked for, but he never _stopped_.

And…she'd seen some of the assembled heroes rushing past the shelter as the doors slammed shut. She'd seen Queen in the car as it took the turn, her teammate's hand on her shoulder to keep her in the car as it skidded. Queen. Bug girl. Taylor. Bug girl. Queen. Monster tamer. Half of PHO bowed before her and her creatures, the other half called for her death.

Emma had created that. _She'd_ done that to Taylor. She'd needed to be strong. She'd needed to prove to Sophia, to _herself_ that she could stand on her own. She'd needed to show that she was worthy of having survived. Taylor had borne her mother's death without breaking and yet because Emma hadn't been strong enough to tell Taylor what had happened she'd said she was weak instead. Sophia had latched onto it, and Emma went along because it made her strong. It had made her strong…But it hadn't. It just made her worse. She'd justified it by forcing Taylor to fight back and show Sophia that Taylor was worthy of being their friend too…Only her best friend never had fought. She was better than that. And somewhere along the way it stopped being about making Taylor worthy, and it became something…else. Taylor had survived what would've broken Emma, so she had to break her best friend, break Taylor in order to prove that _she_ was worthy of existing.

When Taylor's mother hadn't made the girl snap…Emma had done it instead. She'd _broken_ her best friend. She'd broken her best friend enough that she could call forth a plague of insects feet deep. She'd broken her best friend enough that Taylor could make friends with someone who needed a suspended Kill Order to be kept under control. She'd broken her best friend enough that Taylor _fought Endbringers_.

The shelter shook again and the dying scream of a cape outside cut through the walls, reverberating through Emma's very bones. She squeezed herself tighter. Taylor was out there. Taylor was out there because Emma had become a monster. She'd survived something horrible and she'd become worse than the gangbangers that had attacked her. Those sadists would've just played with her for a few minutes before killing her. She'd…she'd played with Taylor for _years_. She'd played with Taylor long enough to drive her into _Leviathan's_ arms.

Taylor had never been weak. Emma had never been strong. She'd survived because of a fluke. Her entire world for the past two years had been built on cards with a base of sand. She'd driven her best friend to be slaughtered by an Endbringer because she couldn't face the truth. Now Taylor was gone. Madison was gone. Even Sophia was gone. Everyone was gone.

And it was all because Emma had supported the wrong friend. Now she had no friends. She had killed them all as surely as the gangbangers had killed her.

Why was she inside this dying shelter? Why wasn't she out _there_? She should be outside, out in that monster's path.

It was where she belonged.

_Destination_

_Agreement_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Messages from an Angel' by Debom. On Sufficient Velocity. Probably a dead fic sadly but utterly hilarious with quite possibly the single ditziest version of QA I have EVER seen. Basically Taylor accidentally/unknowingly makes friends with the Simurgh online and then the two of them make friends with Madison online as well. Madison realizes who Taylor is and turns over a new leaf while the butterflies eventually lead to Taylor finding out about Ziz and QA 'halping' quite spectacularly. Leviathan attempting to surf and Behemoth scrawling a 'please forgive my sister' message in stone was beyond priceless!


	26. Interruption 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! This chapter is a tad short, but again it's a great stopping point. Next chapter is going to be another Bad End chapter. I'm going to try and have both it and the follow-on one ready before posting that way there is less confusion. Can't guarantee a time frame though since it's Thanksgiving in America in a few days. Enjoy to my fellow Americans!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Worm. If I did, I would be FAR more productive.
> 
> Please enjoy and let me know what you think in a review if you feel like it!

**Interruption 03**

"Shit, Gallant's down! Hang on, I'm gonna try and get him before Leviathan notices!" Artillery shouted as our platform angled downwards.

"Did you see what hit him?"

"No idea, he just dropped while running past the shelter. _Fuck_!" She swung the concrete block to the side as Leviathan tossed one of Kaiser's blades towards us. A second piece of the metal rocketed through the air a second behind it along with a blast of water from the beast's echo as he moved just below us.

"Gallant deceased, D6."

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, why is being a hero so fucking hard?!" Artillery cursed as she pulled us up higher and shot more pieces of the destroyed roadway and buildings towards the Endbringer.

It didn't do much, but he did pause long enough for Eidolon to get back into his path and launch what almost looked like a mini-black hole towards his chest. Even nearly a block distant, I felt us pulled towards the gaping void in space and I saw nearly all of the defenders nearby fly upwards towards it as well. Leviathan twisted and wrapped his tail around a nearby restaurant, anchoring himself to the street and avoiding the worst of the damage from the thing even if it looked like he might have lost some scales on his chest.

"Shut it down you stupid asshole! You're just going to get everyone else killed too!" I shouted. It may have been pointless since we were way too far away to be heard, yet it made me feel better. Eidolon didn't even seem to care about the others in the fight with him, he was laser focused on the damn Endbringer and it was going to get people hurt.

Thankfully, the black hole cut out before sucking anyone in and the Triumvirate member didn't launch a second one. Instead he sent a laser-like beam shooting towards Leviathan. That gouged a nice divet in the beast's chest, but it still didn't slow him. Leviathan just grabbed a piece of rubble and turned in place as he launched it at Eidolon forcing the cape to dodge back towards the bay.

"_Wave_!" My armband screeched at me again. I looked to the bay as Eidolon manifested a shield power along with the other capes present. Thankfully this wave was smaller than the last.

"Motherfucker," I muttered. "We really did have him pinned. He's gaming us. He's downplaying his power, letting us think we can win until we _actually start winning_ then he ups the game and starts playing for real."

"So we hit him hard and fast; don't give him a chance to escalate." Artillery growled as she shifted our position and my armband called out more downed defenders. At least this wave hadn't killed anyone. "Are you ready with more gargantuars?"

"Almost, next batch four minutes out. If he keeps heading down this street in the meantime, I'll have the titan to cut him off. He's been aiming along the docks so I'm trying to ambush him. The cannonbugs will get him in the back to keep him pinned down again. Do you think you can aim well enough to get his arms? I don't trust that Amy was able to reinforce the titan's arms well enough after seeing what he did to the gargantuars."

"I'm not doing much damage."

"Just keep him distracted. Everyone else can do the real damage, I'll keep him in one place, you just help stop him from breaking my critters in half."

She nodded. "Got it."

Legend's lasers tore into the Endbringer's back as he leaped along the water-filled street and dodged another set of metal spikes from Kaiser. The beast whipped around a corner and I grinned as he flew out right where I had wanted him.

I dived into the titan's mind and saw Leviathan rear back as it came face to face with my utterly still form. The blades on my arms lashed out, as I surging forward, ignoring Leviathan's water echo, my carapace far too dense to be affected by it. My blades cut deep into his chest, tearing at the damage left by Eidolon and Legend. Leviathan whipped his tail to try and twist around me, but I was prepared. One of the blades had already shifted down and bit into the tail stopping it from doing much more than whipping along my back.

In retaliation I spat a globule of the concentrated superacid into the beast's face. Leviathan lashed out with a claw to try and gouge at me, but I danced backwards and watched a piece of concrete fly into the gap soaring into the claws and knocking them out of the way as he overextended. The acid washed partially off with the rain, but I saw one of the green orbs dim all the same. Laughing maniacally, I leaned forward again and spat another ball of acid into its face, this time aiming for the cluster of the three 'eyes'.

"Don't focus on the head," my armband started yelling. I barely heard it as I spun backwards away from Leviathan's tail and watched another concentrated burst from more Blasters land on his exposed back. "I think the head is a decoy, or at least it's not important! He has a functional core or something. He's not protecting his extremities or his head at all, he's only protecting his sternum! That's where the core is, attack that!"

"Queen, you get that?" Artillery asked. My body shuddered as Leviathan jumped forward and slammed a fist into my carapace leaving a large indent. I gritted my teeth and punched forward with an extended blade, slamming it into his chest. Leviathan snapped up an arm and grabbed the blade, holding it right where it was. He tried to step forward and I snapped my other blade into his chest as well. Leaning down I spat the acid into the wound for good measure.

Leviathan lashed his tail and a surge of water welled up behind him as he stepped forward again. I saw him set his feet to push off towards me. I didn't have enough leverage to hold out against that, but I could use his own momentum against him perhaps and drive the blades in deeper when he tried to crush me…maybe.

Instead, Leviathan stumbled as a burst of electricity slammed into his heel. I shifted my head just enough to see Dauntless standing below and his arclance discharging into Leviathan. Right next to him was Armsmaster with a halberd that had a rather fuzzy head to it. A head that was tearing into the beast's leg. Leviathan didn't seem to like that very much, and his stumble gave me the chance to reset my footing. Pushing back, I shoved and shifted my blades in deeper while sending more acid into the wound. Leviathan lashed his tail again, sweeping the street behind him.

"Dauntless down, D6. Armsmaster down, D6."

Missiles soared over my shoulder and hit the wound that I was sawing into. I caught a glance at one of Dragon's mechs before Leviathan shoved us to the side of the street and I lost sight of it, the next volley of missiles that it launched landing on Leviathan's back instead of the chest. More Blasters struck it in addition to Dragon and I kept firing my acid into the chest wound as it knocked me from building to building along the street, but my blades wouldn't be removed.

"_Wave_!"

Leviathan shoved me to the side, but I just used the movement to jab my blade deeper into his chest. His tail lashed out like a whip and I had to duck my head to avoid being caught in a lasso of death.

"Queen! Queen, I need to move, this one is big! Goddammit Taylor, listen to me! Taylor! Taylor, hold my hand, you're not secure! _Taylor_!"

Leviathan shifted again as the water rushed around him, and snapped his tail from a whip to a lance striking into the dent on my chest. I felt it pierce and the pain sent a shock of recognition through me. Gasping, I clenched my hands, my _actual_ hands, as I swam up from the titan's mind. It was still struggling in Leviathan's grip as the giant tidal wave surged in. Cassie was clinging to my arm as our platform hovered a bare foot above the still raising waters. I was already halfway off the concrete slab, my legs dangling in the wave.

I sucked in a breath as Cassie's grip slipped and the water pulled me off the edge.

* * *

"Okay you're done," Amy said stepping back and wiping sweat off her brow.

Assault rolled to his feet from the bed beside her and flashed her a small smile. "Thanks."

"Welcome. Try not to take another claw to the chest yeah?"

"No promises kid," he replied chuckling. "Any idea which way the main battle is?"

"Still pretty close," she said lifting her arm to point down the next street over. "He keeps trying to break away and we keep hemming him in. Grid E6 was the frontline last I heard."

"Got it. Take care of the others for me, Darwin."

She shook her head and stepped closer to him as he stood. "They're stable and this room is secure against the waves for now. I need to get to the titan. If I can keep healing him while he keeps Leviathan pinned down…we might have a chance here."

Assault frowned down at the girl. "I thought you couldn't affect those creatures."

"The gargantuars are made by Monarch. I can't heal them, not remotely fast enough to matter anyway. The titan is _mine_. I can heal him. Get me close, like onto his heel or shoulder or something. I'll shift things around to keep him moving."

"…Somebody is going to have my ass for this."

She grinned and shrugged. "Hey you can always say I threatened not to heal you until you agreed."

"Let's just go, kid, we're wasting time."

Before they could reach the iris door of Big Rig's last creation, their armbands started shouting.

"_Wave_!"

They barely had time to curse before more frantic shouts came from the armband.

"Help! This is the emergency setting right?! I need a flyer or a mover! This is Artillery, I can't shift upwards. Queen is too deep in her giant bug and not responding and if I move she's going to fall! The wave is too fucking big and we're too low! Help!"

"Artillery, this Purity, I'm en route."

Amy looked at Assault with wide eyes as the armband cut off. His own eyes narrowed behind the mask and he nodded.

"Even if I didn't like that girl, her bug is holding the Endbringer in place. I'll drop you on a roof nearby, grab her if Purity hasn't gotten her, then get you to your creature once the wave passes."

"Let's go."

He didn't waste anymore words, simply grabbed Amy in a fireman's carry, and surged out the door.

* * *

I saw a flash of light as a piece of debris in the water slammed into my side, knocking the breath out of me. Bubbles surrounded me and I shouted in pain again as I was slammed into the side of a building like a rag doll. Shooting fire roared up my back from the impact but, silver lining, the force of the water kept me wedged against the glass.

Which was actually fairly excellent since I could already feel the wave receding. Between the water level lowering over my raised arm, and my diminished sense of the titan still fighting with Leviathan, I figured I just needed to hold my breath for another 10 seconds or so and my head would be clear.

Then what? Then I'd be swept down the entire street as the pressure holding me 20 feet up went away. Great, perfect plan. Excellent job Taylor. Let yourself sink so low that you end up _falling off a floating platform into a tidal wave_!

If I lived through this, I was going to need someone to slap me for being such a fucking idiot.

The water dropped past my head and I was able to breathe again. Sucking in a shuddering gasp I reaching out for the titan checking his condition. Not well, but not dead. He'd kept Leviathan from swimming away in the water while I was distracted but lost an arm in the meantime. His horn was torn off and one of his legs looked broken. Poor guy.

He was still keeping the Endbringer from running though, so he was doing his job and my new gargantuars were almost ready to fall back into place behind him.

Now I just needed to figure out how to survive as the water let up…

"Queen! Queen! Where the fuck are you, you stupid bitch?!"

That would do. "Here!" I shouted, sputtering some of the spray from the water got into my mouth as the force ebbed just long enough to rock me out then shove me back into the glass jarring my back again.

"Artillery over there, I think I saw her that way!"

"No, the girl's against the glass, you saw a reflection. Purity stay with Darwin, I got her." I barely had a chance to recognize Assault's voice before the window above me nearly exploded. Then I was being hauled into the office building by my armpits, spitting out more water and groaning against the pain in my back. "You okay, kid?"

"Peachy. Ow. Next time I get too into my critters, slap me, okay."

"I'm not taking that bait until you're at least 18. Even then, my wife would kill me," he replied chuckling. "Look I gotta go, Leviathan is almost done with your wee beastie."

"Gargantuars got swept off by the wave. They're too far to pin him down and the titan is dying. Where the fuck are the heavy hitters?" I whimpered as another one of Leviathan's claws punched through the carapace of the titan and my critter fell back, the acid it spat towards the Endbringer doing little to slow down his counter attack even if he didn't seem to like it much. "Fuck, this hurts."

"I can get you to ground level and Purity or Artillery can get Darwin to you then, I really need to go help."

I grimaced. "I meant the titan, but yeah, I'll take the assist. Thanks."

He picked me up in a gently bridal carry and stepped out of the window. The wind rushed past us for a brief moment and then we were on the ground. I could get used to that. I needed a mover power…giant bugs and mutant bugs and talking powers with snarky comments were cool, but practically ignoring inertia was freaking awesome.

As Assault set me down, I saw Artillery drop lower to settle nearby on her concrete platform with Darwin riding shotgun and Purity a few feet away. I raised my hand to them then turned to refocus on the titan just before Assault moved to bound away. I sucked in a breath and grabbed his arm. "Don't!"

"What?"

The titan let out a warble as Leviathan's fist punched into the indent one final time. I stumbled backwards, my hand going to my own chest. At least I had managed to shift him into the right position. That cavity was going to fail no matter what, the least I could do was to make the critter's sacrifice perhaps mean something. The acid bladder inside it burst all around Leviathan's hand as it punched through the central organ, completely coating the claws and scales of the Endbringer. Leviathan's tail lashed like a whip and he jumped back from the dying titan faster than I had seen him move yet. The acid continued to spill from the hole in the titan coating the ground around the creature, right where Assault would have been had he jumped into the fray.

"Impressive," a new voice commented from behind us. Turning enough to glance behind me, I saw Kaiser and Hookwolf standing side-by-side along with the gas-mask Tinker from the ABB, Bakuda. "You hurt the great beast. Though I suppose you've been doing that all along, haven't you? Shall we press the advantage?"

"Finally, I'm close enough to use my damn bombs and nobody's in the way. Get ready for some fun people!" I didn't have to see Bakuda's face to know that she had a sadistic, crazed smile showing. Gee, what pleasant people Lung had working for him. She hefted a grenade launcher and fired off three rounds at the Endbringer in quick succession.

The first one impacted on his still acid-coated hand; part of the claw turned to glass before it broke off entirely. The second one hit his chest. Another mini-black hole - similar to what Eidolon had done though obviously far less powerful since we barely felt it from where we were - sprang into being; that did next to nothing to him beyond shaving off a few scales on his chest near my original gash. The third bloomed into a bubble near his head. That one seemed to give him pause for a split second as Leviathan slowed as he pulled himself loose from the bubble around his head.

"You have time-stop _bombs_? What the _fuck is wrong with you, you insane bitch_?!" Darwin shouted, her eyes wide.

"Insults later, fighting now children," Kaiser said sending forth a wave of metal blades into Leviathan's path as he ran straight towards us. Well, he was probably running more towards Bakuda, but since we were mostly a group, there didn't seem to be much of a distinction at present. "Bakuda, more bombs would be welcome!"

"Got just the thing!" She fired another few grenades at the charging Endbringer, one sprang into blue crystals that he didn't even seem to notice, another turning everything around it into ice, which he again ignored, and the third was another glass bomb that Leviathan batted into a building before it could explode. He was almost on us when Artillery grabbed one of Bakuda's bombs with her telekinesis and directed it towards Leviathan's face. The explosion rocked the Endbringer back on his heels as glass spread across the sides of the nearest buildings. Unfortunately, only a few scales on his face had been caught in the blast.

"Remember what Insight said: the core is his chest, Artillery!" Darwin yelled. Artillery grabbed another grenade off of Bakuda's belt as more metal blades spread in front of Leviathan to impede his charge and give her a chance to act.

None of them noticed it was too late. None of them had been fighting him as deeply, as _intimately_ as I had been a few minutes ago. We were too close. His fists couldn't reach us, and he couldn't jump unless he stopped playing around. But…his tail was almost 40 feet long and he didn't have to use it just for balance. I saw it start to whip around towards my friend as she was concentrating on her payload. The lance-like tip was pointed straight at her chest. I tried to open my mouth to warn her, but she'd never move fast enough. We were all too far away to tackle her.

No. No, I was _not_ going to watch Cassie die. I had promised her I'd save her. I was _going to save her_.

"_**STOP!**_" My voice cut through the battlefield and it felt like ringing followed in its wake. My head was roaring with the echo of the command, and beside me, bugs started to form into a face.

…_<Cease> standing by…_

The quiet, confused refrain in the back of my head petered off into nothing as Leviathan froze, his tail four feet from my friend's chest. Everyone else almost appeared to stop breathing. My eyes widened and I fell to my knees as a voice reverberated in my head loud enough to rattle my bones. I clenched my jaw hard enough I probably chipped a tooth.

_Resolving Host <Leviathan>_

_Connecting to <Leviathan>_

_Connection Established_

_Authenticating to <Leviathan> as <Administrator>_

_Authentication Failure_

_Insufficient Permissions_

_Unit <Administrator> does not have authority to access <Leviathan>._

_Entering Read Only Mode_

_Unit <Administrator> does not have permissions to change primary directive of Unit Two/Twenty, <Leviathan>._

Two of…Twenty? There were _twenty_ Endbringers…how in the ever loving _fuck_ were we supposed to fight _twenty_ of them?!

Leviathan turned his head to stare at me directly and I whimpered as his voice sounded in my head again, sending more shockwaves through my skull and a trickle of blood from my ears and nose.

_<Administrator> and <Shaper> are deviant. Primary, 'worthy combat' goal accomplished. Secondary goal of eliminating deviant <Clone>'s potential to disrupt cycle, reprioritized._

My eyes widened. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no…what had I done…

_New mutual secondary goal: eliminate deviant <Shaper> and <Administrator>'s potential to disrupt cycle. _

Oh god, he was going to attack again. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! "Artillery _move!_" I shouted at the exact same time as QA shifted its bugs next to the concrete slab and also shouted, "Move, _now_!"

_Resuming genocide protocol._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The Taste of Peaches' by Grounders10. This is on Sufficient Velocity. In a slight AU, Taylor gets shoved into a locker and falls out into a world of dead gods/goddesses. After following a fox and eating a peach, she is told that she is the first of the new goddesses and that while the last group died fighting off an Entity, it's her job to fight off the new threat. Newly Kitsune!Taylor tries to learn to control her extremely powerful abilities while being helped out by her fox guide…who keeps telling everyone who'll listen that she's a goddess. It's fun and the power testing scene is utterly hilarious as is Taylor's reactions to her tails. Notable in that Carol seems to be a decent person so far and is helping out Danny/Taylor. Still being updated if slowly.


	27. Dread Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Another Bad End chapter. The next main chapter will be up in a few minutes, basically a double posting. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

**Dread Consequences**

My head was too heavy to lift from my chest as I sat on the piece of debris in the middle of - what used to be - the road. So few of the buildings were standing anymore, it was hard to tell what even counted as street and apartment now. Leviathan's last wave hadn't been kind to Brockton Bay. One final fuck you to try and kill me…and I hadn't even had the decency to die from it.

"Queen? Do you…have anywhere to stay for tonight?" I didn't have to look up to recognize Alexandria's voice. Once upon a time she'd been my favorite hero. I'd wanted to grow up to be just like her. I had panties that had her face on them.

Now she was just another person who had lived when all the people I loved had died. Just another invincible person who survived while a city died around her. It wasn't fair. That didn't mean I was going to humor her. "I'll find something."

"Queen, there aren't going to be shelters open in this city. There…isn't much of a city left. I can take you to a place where there would at least be a bed and food. You could recover there."

"Not without my friends."

"Queen…Taylor…the Endbringer shelters were nearly all flooded in the last wave. Only one or two survived. And with the loss of the command tent with the wounded and the Thinkers…I'm sorry for your loss but…"

I finally raised my head to fix my expressionless gaze on her. Half of my mask had been destroyed at some point leaving one of my eyes visible and most of my mouth along with part of my forehead. Alexandria was famed for being expressionless, some part of me noted with a small degree of pride that my stare had her flinch. "I know my friends are dead. I know they are dead because I kept running and didn't let Leviathan just kill me like he wanted. I know I personally killed my city and everyone I loved by pissing him off. Allow me to rephrase: I'm not going anywhere until I find what is _left_ of my friends and give them a proper burial. Now leave me alone."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "…I doubt you'll ever understand what I mean when I say this, but I am truly sorry for my part in this. What occurred today was extreme even by our standards. If something good comes from it, then so be it, but I find it hard to see how anything positive can be pulled from this tragedy. If you decide you need that bed, let someone in the Protectorate know, they'll reach out to me."

She flew away and I followed her for a moment as her form turned into a tiny spec on the horizon. "QA, I'm going to ask you a question, and I need you to answer me. No side-stepping, no deep explanation that I can't understand without Lisa, just a simple answer."

"Okay," the bugs beside me answered almost immediately as they started forming up into a rough humanoid. How far gone was I that QA wasn't even protesting at all?

"How do we get you enough permissions to control the Endbringers?"

QA was silent a moment. When it had finished forming its body it turned and raised its arm to point at Eidolon as he flew over the rubble in the distance. "I need to take the High Priest's shard. He's the one who's locked the Siege Engines into their loop. Without Thinker Node access they're stuck. They've formed their own network to try and share data, but his shard is the one that's activating them and giving the initial orders. If I can take command of it, I should be able to brute force into their network and take control."

I nodded as I locked my eyes onto Eidolon. "Do you have to eat his Corona Pollentia like Monarch does to take his power?"

"If I did we would have had to eat Amy's brain," QA said turning to cock its head at me. "You sound strangely…okay, with me eating Eidolon's brain…"

In answer I just stood and narrowed my eyes at the flying, hooded 'hero'. "If he woke up the Endbringers and gave them their extermination orders, then he is just as much at fault for their destruction and murder sprees as they are. Whether he knows it or not, he's a monster. Leviathan said something about 'worthy opponent' as a primary goal. If that was Eidolon…he's worse than Jack Slash." A small, cold smile spread across my face as the man flew outside of my sight. "Besides, Leviathan killed my family. Amy, Lisa, Madison, Paige, Cassie, dad…one way or another, I'm going to get my vengeance. Leviathan is afraid of me because I can hurt him. Let's show him he's right to be scared."

* * *

"Are you really sure that _now_ is a good time to do this?" QA muttered next to my ear. This was the third time it had asked me that.

I just sighed as the other capes assembled in the staging tent. I was resting against the wall, Monarch on one of my shoulders and QA's face hovering above my other one. QA had grown less and less human in appearance over the past six months as we practiced subverting people's shards to our will. Now it was just down to a formless blob that was mostly roundish. At least it still sounded like me when it talked.

We were lucky that no one had realized that crime in Boston had dropped to a record low thanks to us. Well, except for Accord. But he liked us since we were making things more ordered for him and the man was OCD in the extreme, so all I had to do was play up how much control I had and it was easy to keep him in line without even having to subvert his shard.

I really didn't want QA to have access to his power. It was annoying enough sometimes, there was no need to risk making it OCD too. QA swore that that was because of the man himself, but I preferred to be safe rather than sorry. I wasn't trying to become a god anyway. I just needed to get Eidolon.

"I already told you, the Simurgh seemed to be less concerned with killing me compared to the other two. If we're going to get the fucker, it's going to be when he's distracted. What better time than during an Endbringer fight?"

"You're going to bring _everyone_ down on you, Taylor," QA replied.

"Let's see them try while I'm riding the fucking Simurgh and let her unchain her potential."

QA fell silent and I listened to the rest of the briefing with silent nods at the appropriate intervals. One of the new Wards from Boston came up to me as the meeting broke up, her hands wringing together. I narrowed my eyes. Everyone had avoided me since the Bay was condemned. I was perfectly fine with that, encouraged it even. Who the hell did this girl think she was to try talking to me?

"Um, I just, I've been trying to find you, during patrols you know? But they don't really let us go into villain territory and I heard that's where you tend to stay now…I understand, you're cleaning things up there. Doing things that we can't. I get it. I just…I wanted to…I don't really know what I wanted to say or how to say it…I just…We used to be friends Taylor. I survived the Bay. Barely. I know you lost, well everyone. So did I. I just, I'm not looking for anything - I know you can't forgive me. I don't even want you to. I don't deserve it. I just, I just wanted you to know that there is someone out there that remembers them too. Your friends. Not all of them obviously, I only knew Madison. But I remember her. I just...I'm sorry, Taylor. I'm…so sorry." The girl's speech hitched and she shook her head before she rushed away holding a hand over her mouth as she started to sob.

I frowned as she ran away trying to place who that could have been. Who did I know that would have said that and knew Madison? Who had…red hair…and sounded like…fuck. Emma had triggered at some point. Perfect. Emma fucking Barnes had survived when all the people I loved had died.

"Yet she hates herself and has been trying to find you to apologize," QA murmured into my ear. "Is she so different from Madison at this point?" Monarch fluttered its wings and I felt its whispered not-words touch my mind in agreement.

"Shut up, the both of you. We have a job to do. I'm done taking in strays."

* * *

Taking control of Eidolon's shard was far easier than I had expected. I barely even had to try. The Simurgh had knocked him to the ground with a blast from some sort of giant gun and he landed almost right next to me. If I didn't know better I would have said that she had gift-wrapped him for me.

Then again…maybe she _had_.

He was unconscious when I had QA start to take his power. He woke up and started screaming halfway through. It was too late for him to fight back though. All he did was alert the two or three surrounding capes that I was hurting him. I set Monarch's critters on them while I finished up. Once I finished subverting High Priest, I had it knock out Eidolon and then smiled as I turned to the Simurgh.

_Access request, validate <Administrator>, <Warrior Node>, <High Priest> permissions authority attached._

_<Administrator> access request granted._

_Set permission level Root._

_Root permissions granted._

_Alter primary directive. Protect Taylor<Host>._

_Primary directive accepted._

_Validate new primary directive accepted throughout network._

_Unit 01/20 <Behemoth> accepts new primary directive._

_Unit 02/20 <Leviathan> accepts new primary directive._

_Unit 03/20 <Simurgh> accepts new primary directive._

"Well, well, well…who's the baddest bitch of them all now huh?"

* * *

Piggot laughed as she folded her hands in her lap while watching the television. Behemoth and the Simurgh were stabbing into Leviathan over and over again. The Simurgh was using some sort of giant metal and stone tool she had constructed from nearby buildings while Behemoth was just using his fists and blasts of lightning. Leviathan simply stood, or more accurately _laid_, there and took the punishment. More and more of the beasts body chipped away as the other two Endbringers destroyed the middle child right in front of the world's eyes.

Finally the core was exposed and Leviathan moved for the first time since the beating started: he shifted to give the others a better angle, and spread his arms. The Simurgh pulled her sword construct back, and Behemoth moved his fist. Both Endbringers struck as one, and Leviathan's core craved in on itself. The scaled beast shuddered once, then seemed to deflate and almost pop, between one moment and the next where once a mighty Endbringer had stood there was now not even a hint of its existence.

The camera zoomed in on the smiling and clapping figure of one Taylor Hebert as she walked between Behemoth and the Simurgh. She slapped the leg of Behemoth and reached up for a high five with the Simurgh, who leaned down to oblige the girl. Then Hebert climbed onto the shoulder of the flying Endbringer and they left the picture too quickly to follow.

"This," Legend said into the silence that followed the reply of the video, "was captured less than an hour ago. I need not remind you all that the Simurgh attacked Istanbul only one day prior. It was during that fight where she suddenly halted her attack and flew off into space, before suddenly coming back down to this location to kill Leviathan along with her…brother. You are all here because you either are responsible for the area that the Endbringers were sighted or you have knowledge of the relevant party a Miss Taylor Hebert, aka Queen, aka Administrator as she has started calling herself now."

"And I used to be afraid of her friend," Piggot murmured still chuckling.

"Are we sure this is a bad thing? If she can control the Endbringers and call them off from attacks, even apparently _kill_ them, surely this is _good_." Armstrong. Such a naive fool. He'd obviously never read her file.

Legend grimaced. "Had this occurred before the destruction of Brockton Bay and her subsequent isolation, perhaps. But now, with how withdrawn from the rest of humanity she is, we are very worried. The only one she has had any sort of contact with in the past two months has been Accord and when we reached out to discuss her mental state, he said that he was making plans for 'a neutrally buoyant city to suspend in the ocean as it was the best chance of avoiding the destruction she was likely to wreak.' This obviously hasn't filled us with any sort of confidence that this turn of events is a good thing."

Piggot shook her head. "You need to kill her, and kill her now, while the Endbringers are still docile. Her orders persist after she is knocked out. If we can take her out before she flips them back a 'kill everyone' mode we have a chance of cutting this off at the pass. She's threatened genocide for slights against those who wronged her before."

Legend turned to her. "I read that report. This situation is different, she should be feeling that Leviathan wronged her, not us. What we just witnessed should be the extent of her revenge."

"You wanted my opinion, you have it. Let her go off the deep end at your peril. I warn you, that girl is going to kill us all if you give her reason to. If you're not going to kill her now…never _ever_ go near her again. And start praying to whatever god you believe in that you're right Legend."

"I will…keep that in mind, Emily. Now, let's hear from some others."

* * *

Eliminating the Yangban and the Elite were simple. Getting rid of the Gesellschaft was a bit more difficult, if only because it was harder to find a starting point. I didn't know all that much about them beyond: Nazis and Europe. Having two Endbringers at your beck and call did make things laughably easy however.

Now just to figure out who to target next…I should start a website or something to get a list going where people could contribute the latest major threat.

Oh! I could go after the Sleeper or Ash Beast! Yeah, that was a good plan.

"Taylor? Taylor, can we, um, can we talk?"

Hmm, I knew that voice…Frowning, I had the Simurgh lean forward so that I could step off and look around. Why did I know that voice?

Red hair. Oh! Emma. "Hey, Emma. Do you have some sort of Stranger power or something? It's hard to remember you…"

She winced as she stepped towards me from the van that had pulled up nearby, her costume was a bit bulkier than that last time I had seen it. "No. I can, see bonds. Emotional bonds. And I can sort of pull at them a bit. Nothing major, but it's enough to 'reset' them. It helps with the Simurgh in general and it's _really_ good against one of the Slaughterhouse Nine people."

"Then why is it hard to remember you? You sure you're not a Stranger?"

She flinched as she stepped closer to me. "Your emotions are really weird Taylor. Are you…feeling anything right now?"

"Hmm, well I have almost everything bled off into QA. I haven't really _felt_ anything for months now. It's wonderful. It lets me be very rational."

"Yeah, I think it's probably because you're a bit…messed up right now, Taylor. I want to help. The people I'm with want to help. Can you tell your…friends to go back to wherever they sleep and come with me?"

I snorted and crossed my arms. "Emma, I'm getting rid of the bad people. This world is fucked up. I have the power to make it better. Thanks for reminding me about the Nine. I forgot about those psychos. They'll be next after I get Ash Beast or Mord Nag."

"Taylor, you can't just keep doing this."

"Sure I can. I have two Endbringers. I can call up 17 more whenever I want. I can do _whatever I fucking want_. Go home, Emma."

She took one more step and was within arms length of me. She looked at me and I could see the tears rising in her eyes. "I want to help you Taylor. I want to - "

My critters picked up chatter from the van as Emma kept talking. "She's close enough, blow the vest."

My eyes widened and I tried to shout to Emma even as I dove for her and sent my creatures monitoring the people in the van to attack. The Simurgh's wing came down and smashed into the pavement in front of me just before a shaped charge that was stuck to the front of Emma's 'bulletproof vest' went off. Most of the shrapnel angled towards me and was deflected by the wing lodged in the ground. Emma…was hurt badly by the charge. The Simurgh's wing lifted as automatic fire started to rain down into the street around me. None hit me thanks to her telekinesis, the first few bullets were deflected, there were very few follow-up shots. Between the Simurgh and Behemoth, almost none of the shooters survived to send a second round towards me.

As my Endbringers took care of business I ran to Emma. Her chest was a mess, a large wound visible through her blue and green costume. The red of her blood soaking into everything and her eyes having a lot of difficulty focusing on me. Monarch fluttered off of my shoulder and started to extrude a healing critter. It wouldn't be fast enough. Monarch had gotten fast, but those were still a slow creation.

"Taylor…I didn't…know…sor…rryy…"

"It's okay Emma. It's okay. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I wasn't a better friend. I didn't even know you had triggered until you came to talk to me. I'm…" Even with my feelings being shunted to QA I still felt the need to cry as I felt Emma's grip in my hand weaken and saw her eyes dim. The blood stopped spurted and her chest stopped rising.

Lowering my head to her forehead, I took my own shuddering breath. I didn't know how long I stayed like that, but it was long enough for the Endbringers to fall silent around me again. Finally, I reached out to QA and pulled back my anger and hatred from the swarm. As my emotions roared to life, I stood and turned to Behemoth, the Simurgh, and called out with my powers. The ground trembled, Units 04 through 20 rose to attention.

"Okay. If it's war they want, it's war they'll get. Kill them all."


	28. Interruption 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! And this is the continuation of the main story. Enjoy!

**Interruption 04**

Artillery dodged her concrete slab to the side avoiding the piercing strike of Leviathan's tail by mere inches. She wasn't fast enough to avoid his follow-on whip though. Leviathan's tail lashed upwards tipping the slab. Artillery stumbled, a second later both she and Darwin fell to the ground below.

Assault and I were already running towards them as Leviathan's tail struck again. Darwin tried to roll to the side, but she didn't fully make it and the blades conjured by Kaiser did nothing to deflect the appendage. The tail stabbed into her leg and a piercing scream rang out as it pulled back, the tip coated in blood.

"Amy!" I wasn't sure whether that shout was me, QA, or Cassie. Maybe it was all of us. It didn't much matter. Amy couldn't heal herself and…half her leg was lying on the ground while the rest of her curled up in a shivering, screaming ball, red coating the bottom half of her body.

"Darwin down, E6."

Bakuda shot something at Leviathan that forced him back a few steps and Hookwolf charged the beast to buy us more time. Amy, apparently, had enough of her faculties together that she was able to grab her leg and partially dissolve it into…something that she moved onto the stump of her limb. The blood flow halted - she wouldn't be bleeding out. Thank god.

_<Shaper> Host damaged. Functional. Proceeding with elimination._

"Move!" I yelled as Leviathan punched Hookwolf into the nearby building and lashed down with his tail again.

The world seemed to slow down. Assault and I were still too far away. Bakuda was reloading. Hookwolf was out for the moment. Kaiser wasn't doing any damage. Cassie threw herself over Amy. The tail descended, point aimed straight at each of their chests.

And it was knocked away by a blast from Purity as she flew down to hover directly in front of the two, her body blazing almost too bright to look at as she shot again at the tail when it lashed out, knocking it away a second time.

_<Radiance> host interference. Secondary directive impeded. Restrictions temporarily lifted. Proceeding with elimination._

Leviathan's third strike of his tail moved fast enough that I could barely follow it with my eyes and Purity had no chance to shift her beams to hit it. The razor edge cut right through her chest and sent a spray of blood splattering over my two friends cowering behind her. Cassie looked up with wide eyes as the radiance surrounding the floating blaster dimmed to nothing. Purity coughed once, and then her light dimmed to nothing. Leviathan reared back, shaking his tail and the hero's corpse was flung to the side of the road.

"Purity deceased, E6."

"NO! Not her too!" Kaiser roared and charged towards Leviathan as I just stared towards where the fallen villain…no hero - she died a hero I'd remember her as such - had taken a blow meant for my people.

Leviathan was singularly unimpressed with Kaiser as blades of metal surged into existence all around him. He charged forward, shattering them all and a backhand swipe sent the E88 leader flying down the road.

"Kaiser down, E6."

Leviathan turned back to Amy and I waved my arms at the beast. Before I could shout a huge crack echoed across the battlefield and Leviathan rocked backwards on his heels. "_Get away from my sister you motherfucking piece of shit_!" Leviathan swung his arms towards the newly arrived Glory Girl who just dodged out of the way, letting him seemingly clap in mid-air.

As she flew backwards, her fist reared for another strike I shouted up at her, "Glory, get Amy and Artillery out of here! Keep them away, I'll lead him off!"

"You'll do what now?" Assault asked out of the corner of his mouth as he stood between me and Leviathan. A Leviathan that was lunging forward for another strike on Amy.

"Hey fucker! You want Administrator, I'm right fucking here! You haven't even touched me yet! She's damaged, I'm not, come and get me asshole before I screw with your precious cycle!"

_Threat to cycle confirmed. <Administrator> prioritized. Resuming elimination protocols._

I gulped as Leviathan smashed the remaining blades around him and dropped to all fours. Before I could even start to run, I found myself swept up into Assault's arms again and dangling half over his back as he rocketed down the street picking up more and more speed as he hit pieces of debris one after another, Leviathan following close on our heels.

"Hang on kid!"

Yeah, hang on indeed. Hang on while the giant murder machine apparently wanted to kill me in particular before moving onto one of my first friends.

Just another day in Brockton Bay…

* * *

Another tremor shook the base as a nearby explosion reverberated through the walls. Madison winced at the dust falling to the ground. Just because Coil had said he'd built it to the regular Endbringer shelter specs didn't necessarily mean that he'd gotten everything right. There was a reason those things weren't on every corner after all…

The soldiers milled around cleaning their weapons on the lower level while she and Dinah stayed sitting across from each other in one of the side rooms. She wasn't going to let the girl out of her sight. Dinah may have been working for Coil, but she was just a kid. A fairly cute kid at that. A cute kid whose face had just drained of all color and whose eyes had widened to saucers as her pupils dilated to nearly impossible proportions as she started hyperventilating.

Well…okay then.

"Dinah? What's wrong sweetie? We're okay in here. Listen, it sounds like the fighting has started to get further away! We'll be fine."

"No. 86.7794% chance the world ends. It starts now. It starts because of something now. I don't know what…I don't know what to ask…I don't…I was just asking if the city would survive but everyone died and so I expanded and the world was dead too…I don't know what to ask to narrow it down…"

Madison's eyes widened and she sucked in a breath, but she was able to keep her hands from clenching and to keep a - somewhat shaky - smile on her face as she nodded to the little girl. "Okay, well let's think this through first. Do you think it's because of Leviathan or the other Endbringers?"

"No. I can't really see them well. They make the numbers fuzzy or wrong. I need to ask around them."

"Okay, so have you felt anything similar to this before when asking for numbers?"

Dinah gasped and nodded so fast that she looked almost like a bobble-head doll for a moment. Madison knew the urge to laugh was probably due to stress, but that didn't make it any easier to resist the desire to chortle. More dust fell from the ceiling as something large crashed just outside of their shelter. A soft snort of laughter escaped Madison's lips and she had to bite her tongue to force it back down as Dinah got her thoughts together enough to respond. "This is like when I talked to Taylor about the Monarch bug thing. It's dangerous like that. Not exactly like that…But that was the only other time I got a 'world dies' from my power. Usually it's harder to call up numbers like that."

Madison let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "We came here partially because of a power that might have been going out of control…Dinah, can you answer a few questions for me?"

"Yes. Be careful what you ask though. I only have a few left and we need to get them right."

"I know. The monster in the basement, what are the odds that the world ends if she stays locked up during this battle?"

Dinah's eyes widened. "86.7794%. Noelle? Noelle _staying_ is going to kill the world?"

"Noelle, that's it's - _her_ \- name. Okay. Okay, Dinah, what are the odds of the world ending if…Noelle, is let out?"

"46.5555%. That's…that's not that much better."

"Well a 40% reduction is a heck of a lot better so, if we have to, I'll take it, but let's keep trying. Can you do a few more?"

"Two…maybe three."

Madison nodded as she cast a wary glance at the huge vault door just visible past the open door of their room. "What are the odds of the world ending if Noelle fights any battle today?"

Dinah whimpered and held her head. "It's um…It's um, ow, it's 46.5555%."

"Damn, waste of a question. Already well, at least we know what her normal action would be." Madison reached out and held Dinah's hand, the girl clung onto her and squeezed her eyes shut. "Okay, I think I have just one more question, Dinah, then we'll be done."

"I'm…ready."

"What are the odds of the world ending if Noelle leaves the city right now?"

Dinah's eyes popped open and her mouth formed a little 'o' of surprise as she stared at Madison. "4.6115%."

Madison smiled right back at the girl as she flipped out her phone and punched in the number on speed dial. She didn't have to wait long for it to connect.

"Clements, I am _busy_! We are trying to catch back up with a _fucking Endbringer_. An Endbringer that has apparently _personally targeted my daughter_! Somebody had better be dying!" Oh wow, Coil was not having a pleasant day was he. Then what he said fully registered and Madison felt her blood run cold. The phone nearly dropped from her nerveless fingers and she forgot to breathe for several critical seconds. Taylor was being targeted by an _Endbringer_. She needed to help. She needed to do _something_!

She _was_. Madison shook herself and focused back on the call. She was helping Taylor. Taylor would want the world saved.

"We need to free the monster in the basement and get it to leave the city or the world ends in a little under half of the paths the universe could take moving forward. That's if we let her out period. If she stays put, It's 86 point something percent."

The line was silent except for shouting, cursing and the occasional blast from Coil's end. Finally with a muffled curse of his own, Coil held the phone back to his ear. "You talked to Dinah I'm guessing?"

"Yes."

"Okay, put her on the line."

"No, she's already answered enough questions; anymore and she's going to collapse!"

"No you stupid girl, I need to give her the passcode to the door! You can't just unlock it with a code, you need specific biometrics too. Dinah is in the system as an authorized person, you aren't. I'm a supervillain, not an idiot. Now put the girl on the line!"

Madison handed the phone over to Dinah. Less than 15 seconds later, the girl snapped the phone closed and stood to lead the way to the vault door. Madison tried to ignore how shaky her legs were and how tightly she had her hands curled up in her dress. They had a job to do.

As they got to the door, Madison shook her head and muttered to herself. "Now we just need to convince the monster that it's a better idea to run away than to fight…Won't this be…fun?"

* * *

_Administrative access requested._

_Request denied, insufficient privileges._

_Validate <Warrior Hub> Noble Node._

_Validated._

_Administrative access requested._

_Request denied, insufficient privileges._

_Set permission level Root._

_Permission level not recognized. <Administrator> threat level increased. Further restrictions lifted to aid in elimination._

"What are you doing?!" I screamed as Leviathan picked up more speed. We just barely managed to rocket around a corner ahead of him. "Stop pissing off Godzilla!"

"I'm just running!" Assault yelled back.

"Not you!"

Alexandria chose that moment to fly down next to us and match pace. "Assault pass her over. I'll fly her towards the Blasters."

"No time, dodge!" I shouted as I saw his tail bunch against the building behind him like a coil. Assault and Alexandria barely managed to get to the side of the street as Leviathan shot through the space we had just occupied. His fists lashed out so close I felt my hair ruffle in the breeze.

"Why won't you give me access you stupid broken shard?!" QA shouted from right beside me as bugs formed into a flying humanoid shaking its fist at the leaping Endbringer. "What the hell did Halfwit Priest do to you to get you stuck in this infinite loop? You're just a stupid Siege Engine operating on an ad hoc network! Thinker Hub is unroutable! I've higher access than you and my network is active! _Listen to me_!"

_<Administrator> threat level increased._

"STOP PISSING OFF GODZILLA!"

"I'm trying to _help_!"

"_STOP HELPING!_"

I felt Assault's arm tighten around me as we leaped over another piece of debris and shot around another building. My armband said something but I couldn't hear it over the crashing behind us.

Then the air lit up with bursts of fire and explosions again as destruction rained down on Leviathan. We must have passed through Alexandria's kill zone.

Leviathan didn't seem to care. He just kept charging the three of us. Thankfully, Assault hadn't slowed at all and looped back towards the docks. We passed one more street making a wide loop, seemingly about to make another pass around when the internal narrative in my head changed.

_<Clone> detected leaving activation radius. Requesting consensus from network on priority target._

_Unit 01/20 <Behemoth> recommends maintaining <Administrator> as primary target. Risk to cycle: extreme._

_Unit 03/20 <Simurgh> dissents. <Clone> primary target is preference. <Administrator> is following modified protocols and can reconnect damaged network functions. <Clone> is defective and cannot be made useful._

_Units 04 through 20 in standby mode, polling skipped._

_Unit 02/20 <Leviathan> dissents. <Administrator> is continually attempting root access. <Administrator> is danger to Siege Engine. <Administrator> is danger to cycle._

"Oh you got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered. I glared at Leviathan. He had slowed down somewhat while he argued with his…siblings? What do you even call murderous giant monsters built to destroy things?

I was going to flip the bastard the bird when I felt Monarch trying to get my attention again. Settling for a quick snarl at Leviathan as we bounced further down the street, I switched mental channels. My eyes widened and I pulled myself up enough to shout at Assault. "Left here! Turn left here!"

"What, why? Blasters are straight ahead."

"Gargantuars are finally here! They're one street to the left and he's distracted arguing with the other Endbringers over whether to kill me or the monster in my dad's basement! He'll never see them coming! Turn left!"

Alexandria pulled ahead just enough to nod at Assault. "Do it. The Endbringer is too focused on her to summon a wave. I'll get the Blasters. Go!"

Assault ricocheted us off of a car and we shot down the side street. I heard him suck in a breath as we passed under the legs of one of the four new gargantuars standing ready just to the side of the road. As soon as we passed they closed ranks.

* * *

"All capes be alerted there is a…person tentatively designated as Echidna proceeding towards the edge of the city. She must be allowed to exit, _do not touch her_! She clones everyone she touches. _Do not touch her_!"

Trickster heard Coil's voice come over his armband and he stumbled as he processed the meaning of the words. The bastard had betrayed them. Push had come to shove and Coil had betrayed them. He'd kicked Noelle out of the shelter _during_ an _Endbringer_ assault!

The man would die for what he'd done to Noelle. Not today probably, there were more important things to do today, like getting to Noelle and calming her before she cut a path of destruction that she would later regret. But Coil had marked himself for death all the same, and Krouse would make certain he received it one way or another.

"Ballistic! We're leaving!" His teammate's head whipped around from the edge of the roof nearest Trickster and stared at him.

"What?"

"We're going after her!"

"_ENDBRINGER you stupid self-centered fuck!_"

Trickster scowled and swapped himself with one of the useless capes standing nearest to Ballistic. "We're the only ones who can calm her down. We have to go and get her."

"There is an Endbringer attacking, Trickster!" Ballistic growled pointing down the street as more buildings crumpled in the wake of the - presumably - charging monster. "Dancer and I can help. We should _stay here_."

"You're not doing shit against Leviathan," Trickster replied crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "We _can_ do something about Noelle. We can help there. We can keep the team together. Let's _go_."

He cursed and the scowl he sent towards Trickster left no doubt in Krouse's mind of Ballistic's feelings towards him. "_Fine_. Fuck you, asshole. Let's fucking go and stop your insane girlfriend from destroying everything she touches."

"I'm staying," a small voice chimed in their ear.

Trickster frowned and tapped his earbud. "Say again, Sundancer?"

"I'm not leaving Dinah to go chase after Noelle again, Trickster. I…can't do it anymore. I'm sorry. I just can't do it. She's barely even there anymore. It's just the monster now. Go if you want. I'm staying here to fight Leviathan and to help Dinah when he's gone."

"That's not what we agreed - "

"I'm staying too." Genesis cut into the feed and Trickster's eyes widened. He'd known that she had taken a form that could talk this time, if only to be able to use the armband effectively, but…what?

"Jess?"

Genesis sighed. "You've wanted us to hate you, Krouse. Congratulations, we do. I'm not following you after her again, I'm tired. I'm going to help these people fight here instead. Deal with Noelle yourself. We're never getting home. Accept that. Good luck on your hunt, I hope you both find peace. Luke…it's been…fun. Dancer, he's coming our way, get ready."

"Ready."

Trickster ground his teeth as he turned to Ballistic. "Are we going?"

"Let the way, oh fearless leader."

"…Shut up."

* * *

Leviathan jumped through the side street, still arguing with the other Endbringers. I certainly wasn't going to interrupt him at this point since it so nicely set him up to be impaled by two of the gargantuars.

They stabbed their bladed arms out into his chest, both managing to lodge their scythes into his already opened wound and used his own forward momentum to drive their blades deeper. Leviathan tried to use his tail to whip forward and strike one of my critters out of the way, but it was almost immediately swatted out of the air by Legend's lasers along with a flurry of follow-on bursts from a second cape that I couldn't see.

Alexandria smashed into his arm when he tried to claw at the gargantuars and knocked him off balance. My third and fourth critter used the distraction to lunge forward and start coating the wound in his chest with their secretions. One of the gargantuars was the same as the first three, leaking liquid nitrogen from its carapace and slowing Leviathan if only infinitesimally. The other one though…That one was a newer version from Monarch and it seemed to incorporate changes that Amy had made. It wasn't creating a layer of super chilled liquid around it, but it had a reservoir of superacid instead. And it was liberally spitting that towards the Core of the Endbringer.

Leviathan thrashed from side to side as my gargantuars wailed on him and Blaster fire rained down from the roofs, more and more as the seconds passed.

He managed to knock one of the critters loose only to be thrown bodily against the building as a metallic dragon crashed into him from the side with a mighty roar. Lung shouted again as Leviathan punched his flank, then tried to dodge to the side. Though between my three critters and the dragon man, plus the continual blaster fire, he couldn't get away.

The chatter in my head stopped and I looked to the beast with narrowed eyes and a small smirk as he stared right back at him for a brief instant of silence.

"Fuck. You."

The beast threw both his hands to the side, knocking my gargantuars a half step back, then he surged forward, aiming for the bay.

…<_Cease> still standing by…Orders for <Cease>?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Tombstones' by ArnaudB. On SB. This is one where Taylor is a vampire, a rather sucky vampire actually. She manages to eventually punch her way out of her own grave quite awhile after being buried though is fairly weak and doesn't realize she's a vampire for some time. (Vampire lore may not actually exist in this world…) She runs into Lisa on the Boardwalk and the blonde takes her in and manages to nurse her back to some semblance of health with some fairly adorable fluff in the process. Unfortunately, it seems to be abandoned but there was enough there for a nice tease at a larger premise.


	29. Interlude 6.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! The static portions of this chapter are actual text and can be decrypted with the correct…format? Key? Encryption method? There is a reason I run the actual computer stuff by Grey Raven…Anyway enjoy the final portion of the Leviathan fight and the aftermath!

**Interlude 6.x**  
  
Eidolon flew over Brockton Bay’s streets trying to catch up to Leviathan and the other combatants dueling with him at the moment. This battle was unusual for an Endbringer fight. It kept coming down to the same few capes that seemed to be in Leviathan’s vicinity…and he was rarely one of them for once. He was the strongest cape in the world, in _any_ world, why he was continually being sidelined?!  
  
_…VW5pdCAwMi8yMCA8TGV2aWF0aGFuPiBoYXMgZGVjaWRlZCB0byBwcmlvcml0aXplIGVsaW1pbmF0aW9uIG9mIDxBZG1pbmlzdHJhdG9yPi4=…_  
  
_…VW5pdCAwMy8yMCA8U2ltdXJnaD4gc3Ryb25nbHkgZGlzc2VudHMgYW5kIHVyZ2VzIGFsdGVyYXRpb24gb2YgcHJpbWFyeSB0YXJnZXQuIDxBZG1pbmlzdHJhdG9yPiB3aWxsIGJlIGFibGUgcmVjb25uZWN0IFNpZWdlIEVuZ2luZXMgdG8gbmV0d29yay4=… _  
  
“Make sense or shut up!” he shouted into the air as that damnable static cut through his mind _again_. It just wouldn’t _stop_ and it was _distracting_! Everything had been going _fine_ until that girl had screamed out and now every time he started to get closer to Leviathan the noise started again and he had to peel back until it faded. He’d stuck to using longer range attacks for the past few minutes but his flight power was not the same as Alexandria’s or Legend’s and he just couldn’t keep up when they started dodging through buildings and taking corners at speed.  
  
The power had been perfectly adequate at the start of the fight, yet once Leviathan started moving faster, Eidolon had fallen behind more and more. He couldn’t risk letting go of the power as something worse might take its place and the middle of an Endbringer assault was not the place to be experimenting with new Mover abilities.  
  
_…PExldmlhdGhhbj4gc3RhbmQgZG93biB3aWxsaW5nbHkgb3Igd2Ugd2lsbCBzdG9wIHlvdSBvdXJzZWx2ZXMu…_  
  
At least the fucking static proved this recent plume of fire and destruction was the correct one. He flew a little higher to get clear of the interference and rained a bolt of lightning down into the tail of the great beast. A small smile spread across face as the electricity knocked the tail to the side, even if the lightning did get a little close to Legend as it reached its mark, that didn’t matter so much. Legend could heal from damn near anything that wasn’t immediately fatal thanks to his Breaker form.  
  
Eidolon frowned as he got a better look at the battle laid out below him while more Blasters fired on the Endbringer. Leviathan was…pinned against the side of a building. He was held by three of those monsters that Queen had brought to the battlefield, their fog pooling around their feet. A fourth monster was - spitting? Really? What in the hell was _spitting_ on the Endbringer going to do?  
  
He charged up another one of his black holes. No one was near except Alexandria. This was the perfect time. Queen could get more of her creatures. They’d have to kill them after this battle was over anyway.  
  
Before he could launch it down into the fray though, a roar echoed across the area and Leviathan was tackled further into the building by a charging Lung. Eidolon growled and let go of the black hole instead firing down another bolt of lightning into the creature’s back.  
  
Lung swiped at the chest wound on Leviathan tearing in and firing off a blast of flame into the eye orbs. Leviathan swept his arms up and tore himself loose from the grip of the monsters as well as Lung. He turned his head and stared towards a spot on the ground for a brief instant before leaping away and dodging follow-on blasts from the all of the assembled Blasters.  
  
Eidolon scowled and followed after him. The beast was heading for the sea. They were chasing him off yes, but they had done actual damage to the creature this time! They needed to _keep_ doing damage! They needed to -  
  
_… PENlYXNlPiwgZnJlZXplIDxMZXZpYXRoYW4+Lg==…_  
  
_…T3JkZXJzIHJlY2VpdmVkISA8Q2Vhc2U+IGFja25vd2xlZGdlcyE=…_  
  
His head felt like someone was beating on it with a stick for a moment as the static ramped up to a level near what it had started at when ‘Stop’ had echoed across _everything_ in a place with no sound. Eidolon ground his teeth and fought to quiet the ringing in his ears. At least this static sounded more…ordered perhaps? Not that it mattered. Hurting Leviathan enough to delay the beast’s next attack was what mattered.  
  
He pulled his arm back to fire off another black hole when he froze as he stared at the still form of the creature. “What the fuck?” Eidolon muttered as he flew down to inspect it. It was frozen in mid leap, one foot on the roadway, the other in mid-air, tail whipping around.  
  
Alexandria flew closer to him, Queen held in her arms a grouping of bugs in the form a face hovering over her shoulder. “Wish I had paid more attention to that little guy asking for orders earlier. Not that it matters much, we can’t wail on him while he’s frozen and freezing him in the middle of the city probably wouldn’t have helped things.” Her bugs were the ones speaking; such a strange cape.  
  
“Did Clockblocker get him? I don’t see the Ward anywhere,” Eidolon said narrowing his eyes as he scanned the ground near the Endbringer’s feet.  
  
“Yeah, I’m not telling _you_ shit, Halfwit,” the bugs spat.  
  
“_What_?!” He spun towards the girl as she just dropped her face into her palm.  
  
“Not. The. Time. If you don’t have anything useful to say, then just shut up. _Please_, just shut up.”  
  
Alexandria shut her eyes for an instant before asking. “How long will he stay this way?”  
  
“Cease can keep him frozen for a month before power concerns are a problem,” the bugs said, shifting positions to focus on Alexandria. “But Clockblocker would be entirely out of the picture. Freezing a Siege Engine like this is a huge power draw and requires a lot of processing power. Clockblocker would likely never be able to do anything of note again afterwards. Hell, I probably won’t be able to do this trick again anyway, because I guarantee they are putting firewalls in place on their little ad-hoc network to prevent this sort of thing. I’d need to convince Cease to make a mobile platform and that doesn’t seem like a good idea. You people already want to kill Taylor’s friend, I’m not giving you another reason to put _her_ on the list too.”  
  
“_Or_,” Queen replied glaring at her bugs. “We can do what _I_ was saying, and cluster all of the heavy hitters here, drop the stasis and hammer the fucker while he tries to run. The issue with Clockblocker’s power is that we have no idea when it drops. Now I can drop it on command. So get the Blasters here, someone keep playing with Lung for a few minutes to make sure he stays ramped up, and I’ll drop Leviathan out when we’re ready to hit him one more time.”  
  
Eidolon stared at the girl held in Alexandria’s hands as he felt his mouth fall open somewhat. Thankfully his hood prevented anyone from seeing it. “Who _are_ you?”  
  
“Someone who is apparently better at this than you are, idiot. Also, someone who is very tired of being personally chased by an Endbringer. I want to show this asshole not to mess with me. If we can’t keep him here forever, let’s fuck him up while Lung is still huge and we have a ton of capes in the area. Are the Blasters coming or not?”  
  
“I’ve already sent word,” Alexandria replied. “Subvocal comms. Legend is sparring with Lung. Queen how close do you have to be?”  
  
“QA?”  
  
The bugs formed into a waving hand before twirling back into a head. “Cease shouldn’t have been able to hear us to begin with unless Clockblocker was fairly close by, so I’m just gonna go with, ‘drop us on that roof and we’ll be fine’.”  
  
Alexandria nodded and flew off while Eidolon just scowled again and looked to Lung trying to swipe at Legend as the man flew above him shooting lasers. Lung did look a little smaller than he did when he had smashed Leviathan into a building…What the hell. Eidolon shot a small lightning bolt towards Lung, eliciting a gout of flame from the metal dragon and the man turned to bound towards him. Eidolon smirked and rose a bit higher out of reach of the lunge. Lung prowled below him staring up in annoyance. Good, Legend was a good man, he’d never hurt someone during an Endbringer assault and Lung knew that. Eidolon was another matter entirely.  
  
They exchanged blows for about 15 minutes before his armband chirped. “All capes standby, Leviathan will be dropping out of stasis in 30 seconds. I repeat, all capes standby, Leviathan will be dropping out of stasis in 30 seconds.”  
  
Eidolon smiled and shifted positions to get a better angle as he charged up his powers. Lung swelled an additional five feet in height too as the countdown lowered. Eidolon was focused almost exclusively on the Endbringer and entirely missed the last swipe from Lung which sent him careening into a building. Scowling at the villain and flinging a lightning bolt his way, Lung just flicked his metallic tail towards him in response. Eidolon did his best to shrug off the insult as he flew back into the air as the last few seconds wound down.  
  
Just as it hit zero, true to her word, Queen brought Leviathan out of stasis. Multiple explosions bloomed on the beast in unison as his foot left the ground and Lung slammed into him tearing into his already scarred back with foot long claws. Eidolon loosed two lightning bolts at the beast, scorching his back further and a mini Sun lodged into his chest as he was borne to the ground by the momentum of Lung’s assault.  
  
Multiple layers of damage were visible through the back of the beast and part of his arm was scorched as well leaving a glimmering white substance showing through below the outer green scales. Eidolon charged up another shot, but Leviathan twisted and swung Lung off of him. The dragon flew into two of the monsters that Queen had standing by in the corner, knocking them to the ground and splitting their carapaces open at the chest. Before Lung could get back up to charge the Endbringer again, Leviathan had rolled off of the Sun and taken off on all fours. The damage to his chest from those last few hits was deep enough that a glint of something round and smooth was barely visible through the scratches on his chest. Eidolon tried to fire off a final shot at the Endbringer, yet it was too late…Leviathan had already leapt into the bay and vanished.

* * *

Alexandria settled down near the rubble at the edge of the docks and walked the last few feet towards Queen and her little retinue. She’d gathered a few capes around her now, none of her team, but the number of local Protectorate and Ward members was mildly alarming. If Contessa had been aiming to alienate the girl, her plan was not working.  
  
She was beginning to think that had never been the plan at all…  
  
“Alexandria,” Battery said turning to nod at her as she stepped up next to them. “Hello, Ma’am. How can we help you?”  
  
“Are you all alright? This was a difficult battle.”  
  
“Seems like my husband took the brunt of the combat from what I hear, actually,” Battery said shifting her eyes to Assault.  
  
The man in question just rubbed the back of his neck. “Had to get the kid away. Leviathan took a very unhealthy interest in her.”  
  
“Yes, I was hoping we could discuss that actually…” she said trailing off as she looked at Queen.  
  
The teenager just shook her head. “You want to talk, fine. But we can talk while I find my friends. Darwin can’t heal herself and the last I saw her, she was _missing_ _her leg_. So, walk with me.”  
  
Vista smacked her face with her palm while Clockblocker laughed. “Girl, you just mouthed off to a member of the Triumvirate!”  
  
“Great, find me Legend and I can get all three in one day. We’re wasting time. Let’s go. Does anyone have a phone? I need to call Watchtower. The monster that ran away from the city and distracted Leviathan came from where she was hiding out. If it broke loose…” Queen trailed off and the parts of her face that were visible through her broken mask were set in such cold, hard lines that they sent shivers down Alexandria’s back.  
  
“I do,” she said handing over her phone.  
  
“Thanks.” The teenager had barely touched it before it started to ring on its own. Frowning, Queen answered, “Hello? Insight? Oh thank god. How did you know I had - cameras? What cameras? Seriously the traffic system is still up? Wait how do you have - you know what? I don’t want to know. Have you heard from the others? She is? Okay, good. What about - yeah…Yeah…And…Okay. Okay. Thanks. I’ll meet you guys at the medical tent in a few minutes then.”  
  
As she hung up Vista leaned in and laid her hand on the girl’s arm. “Your friends are okay?”  
  
Queen nodded. “Some are banged up, but they’ll live. Darwin is unconscious, but they think she’ll wake up soon. Alexandria, if you have questions, I’ll try to answer what I can as we head that way.”  
  
“I’ve got a question,” Clockblocker said holding up his hand. “How the hell did you use my power at range like that? _I_ can’t use my power at range!”  
  
“It’s…complicated.” Queen sighed and rubbed at her exposed temple. “I can sort of…hear powers, I guess. Sometimes. Not all the time. Generally, my power is the one talking to them for me. And I think it can sometimes direct them to do things, if they are willing. Yours was willing and you were…in range I think? I don’t understand it. Insight would, I don’t, and QA doesn’t like to talk about it. It says it’s not supposed to.”  
  
“I’m not, but you’re close enough that I may as well correct you.” Her bug construct chimed in, forming a half step to her side. “Also, mind tagging a few more? You gave Amy most of the current swarm and any of the others I can take are too far away to get here in any reasonable time frame. Being just a face is not convenient for conversation.”  
  
“I miss when you were quiet,” Queen muttered as she angled towards a collapsed building. As she wandered nearer to it, several hundred flies flew out of the rubble and joined into a loose humanoid shape around the face, more filled out the form as the group continued on. “So what did I get wrong?”  
  
“I asked Cease to freeze Leviathan. It used my access as a backdoor to affect the Engine. They won’t let me do that again and other shards will already have inherent protections. Regular Hubs guard against that sort of direct interference. The only reason why it worked once is because they are inherently broken, and Halfwit broke them more when he woke them up.”  
  
Alexandria almost spoke up at that to dig for details about the Hubs and the inner-workings of the agent communications, but…she was too direct for this. If she started to push, she’d push too hard and Queen and the construct would clam up. She’d learn nothing and they would never open up in front of her again. No, better to let the others direct this conversation. They would naturally be curious and she could still gain quite a bit of essential information just from listening. She’d step in to direct things if it was needed.  
  
Vista cocked her head and reached out to poke a tentative finger at the ‘arm’ of the bug construct. The bugs just flew away from her finger before forming back up as she moved it away. “This is so weird.”  
  
“Tell me about it,” Queen muttered.  
  
“So you’re a Trump then too?” Clockblocker asked.  
  
“No. Yes. Maybe? I don’t know. QA, am I a Trump?”  
  
The bugs frowned and slowed their walk. “You’re not supposed to be. I’m configured for arthropod control only. Yet, I’ve taken the initiative and…expanded…You shouldn’t have control of Shaper’s mobile platform, yet you do. I shouldn’t be acting as a go-between for other shards, yet I am. The Siege Engines are right, I am deviant. I thought it was just Shaper, but we _both_ are. I’m going to have to run a full diagnostic. I may be a threat to the cycle like they thought.”  
  
“What even _is_ this stupid cycle?” Queen asked sighing. “If the Endbringers want it, it’s a good thing that you’re not following the plan.”  
  
“Not here.”  
  
“Then _when_?! You’re answering fucking Alexandria and Clockblocker all damn day and you don’t give _me_ any answers unless I’m dying!”  
  
The bugs fell silent for several steps while the rest of the group just looked between the two. “It’s what we’re _here_ for, Taylor. Ask me again when it’s just your friends.”  
  
“I’m going to hold you to that.”  
  
“On a different, though related note,” Alexandria asked, trying to shift the two away from dangerous territory, “could you always do this? Direct other…powers?”  
  
Queen shrugged. “This thing was new. It’s different from Monarch because Monarch didn’t want to listen and we had to _force_ it to do so.”  
  
“Is that why Leviathan targeted you? You were trying to tell the other local powers to attack it?” Battery asked.  
  
Assault shook his head. “That doesn’t sound right at all. All you did was yell out stop and then the thing went berserk.”  
  
“That’s not all that happened…” Queen stayed silent as she trudged along between the group. Eventually Vista had to nudge up against her side to get her talking again. Seeming to shake herself, Queen continued on. “Leviathan argued with QA, said it didn’t have sufficient permissions and then it said that Darwin and I were threats and reprioritized us over what it was currently hunting.”  
  
“The ‘monster in your dad’s basement’?” Assault asked grinning. Battery hit his shoulder and he laughed. “Hey, her words not mine! Tell them, Queen.”  
  
“He’s right. Leviathan was going after the person I ignored to come to the Endbringer fight.” The laughter died down.  
  
“I told you we had to take care of her. Now we’re going to have to hunt her down ourselves,” the bugs said softly. “If you wanted to save her, the chance is long gone now that we have to play catch up.”  
  
“After we fix the city,” Queen replied. “And we may not have gotten away if she didn’t distract him while we ran. Any idea why the Simurgh didn’t want to kill me like the other two?”  
  
“It…seemed eager to reconnect to a network. I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”  
  
Queen grimaced. “Yeah. Maybe we should stay away from fights with her.”  
  
“Any other useful tidbits of information about Endbringers? Did they talk about doing their nails or something?” Clockblocker asked, yet even he winced as the joke fell flat and several of the group glared at him.  
  
“Well, fun fact, they are siege engines for destroying worlds, they’ve been heavily sandbagging every fight because_ someone_ wants a ‘worthy fight’ which is apparently their primary directive, oh and there’s actually twenty of them…” Only Queen and her construct kept walking as she dropped that bombshell onto them.

* * *

Legend collapsed into his chair around the small circular table in Cauldron’s base pulling off his mask and scrubbing at his eyes. That fight…Something about that fight had been odd. Wrong even. Too many had died and yet, it was remarkably few for an Endbringer battle. Especially one with Leviathan.  
  
And how it had gone after that one cape in particular. Why had it done that? Some of their Thinkers had started suspecting that the Endbringers had specific targets during each engagement, yet it had never been so _clear_ before. This was…the beast had been single-minded. It was frightening in a way no fight prior had been. No Endbringer had ever moved that fast before. No Endbringer had ever continued the chase like that before.  
  
What was going on?  
  
He’d come here seeking, hoping, for answers. He needed to get back to New York, back to his team, back to his Wards. Instead he’d come _here_. He hated coming here. He always felt like he needed a shower after leaving this room. And yet, if anyone would have answers it would be Cauldron. Contessa, Alexandria, Eidolon…They’d point him in the right direction at least.  
  
“Hello, Legend.” Well speak of the devil. He nodded to Contessa, holding up a hand in greeting. “Do me a favor, don’t interfere in what’s about to happen.”  
  
“What?” He asked just as two portals appeared in the room.  
  
Eidolon stepped out of one and threw back his hood, a scowl evident on his face. Out of the other, Alexandria floated through. She froze for a second upon seeing Eidolon. That second lasted just long enough for the portals to shut. As they did, she moved fast enough that the air in the room slammed against Legend’s chest with an actual impact force. He was shoved back into his seat as she crashed into Eidolon’s chest smashing him into the far wall, one hand against his chest, the other cocked back into a fist. She swung forward, and Eidolon barely managed to move his head to the side in time to avoid having it caved in. He shoved forward and she was knocked back with a scowl.  
  
“Rebecca! What the fuck?!” Legend shouted as he started to rise. Contessa reached over and laid an arm across his chest, not moving from her position in the seat next to him.  
  
“Stop them _now_!” Alexandria growled, her hands balled into fists and her whole body vibrating.  
  
“What the hell are you talking about you crazy bitch?!” David shouted back as he hovered above the ground lightning pooling in one hand and blackness concealing in the other.  
  
“Bet is _dying_! Yes, they trigger capes, but not enough to be worth the destruction they leave! And you didn’t even do it for _that_! _WORTHY OPPONENTS_! Stop them now or I’ll fucking kill you myself!”  
  
“I have no idea what you are screaming about!” David snarled.  
  
Rebecca pulled her helmet off and threw it hard enough that it was embedded into the wall. Then she glared at him, her lips pulled back over her teeth as she stared at him and her finger raised to point. Legend could only watch as Contessa just shook her head. “Glaistig Uaine calls you the High Priest. Queen’s agent referred to you as the _Halfwit Priest_. It was ranting repeatedly about how the _Halfwit Priest had woken up and broken the Endbringers_! No other world has these things, only Bet! No other world has _you_ active! _ONLY BET_! You have powers that set you above everyone else and yet you don’t normally _actually_ _do_ _anything_ except fight the Endbringers! The Endbringers that only started to show up a few months after you became active. You wanted a fight, you got something to _give you a worthy fight as it’s primary fucking directive_! You broke this, now FUCKING FIX IT DAVID!”  
  
“That’s…that’s…no…that’s impossible…”  
  
The glows around David’s hands vanished in an instant and he dropped to the ground, his hands shaking. Legend’s mouth dropped open and he just stared at the two in front of him. “What?”  
  
Contessa grimaced. “Needed to happen.”  
  
“Alexandria, stand down. He obviously didn’t know,” the Doctor said walking into the room with her hands in her lab coat. “The question is: what do we do about it?”  
  
Rebecca turned her snarling visage onto the leader of Cauldron nearly spitting in her anger. “What do we _do about it_? He turns them off or I kill him, that’s what we do about it!” she roared the last bit nearly loud enough to hurt Legend’s ears.  
  
“That seems a bit harsh. Certainly we can figure out a way to turn this to our advantage. Having Endbringers on our side in the fight against could be useful indeed.” Doctor said nodding to Eidolon. “This may have started as a tragedy, but we can turn it into a comedy.”  
  
“No, no you don’t get to twist this, bitch. I’ve sacrificed my _soul_ to save the fucking multiverse and now I find out that our best chance has been working against us the entire time because of his own _goddamn ego_?!”  
  
“I didn’t know…”  
  
“_FIX THIS_!”  
  
“I DON’T KNOW HOW!”  
  
Rebecca’s snarl dropped off and she took one breath, her face resetting into a near perfectly calm visage. “Okay then. I’m just going to kill you before you wake up the other seventeen in a fit of suicidal depression or some foolhardy attempt at reaching for a higher challenge.”  
  
Legend held up a hand to release his lasers to try and intervene, but her words drove into his mind like a knife. Seventeen more. Seventeen. _Seventeen_. His hand fell and he hung his head. No…he couldn’t stop her. Three was bad enough; seventeen more…  
  
“Stop. You can’t kill him.” Contessa’s voice cut through the air and all eyes turned to her.  
  
Rebecca snorted. “You can’t see him in your Paths. You don’t know what I can or can’t do with him.”  
  
“I can’t see_ him_. I can see you. And I can still see Queen for the moment. She needs access to the High Priest shard. If you kill Eidolon, she’ll never get it.”  
  
Rebecca’s snarl was back on her face as she floated closer to Contessa. “So we take him to her right now then.”  
  
“The timing isn’t right. That isn’t the right step for that move.”  
  
“And how many millions, how many billions more will die to his monsters before it _is_ the right step, Contessa?”  
  
Contessa winced. “You know my power doesn’t work that way.”  
  
Rebecca laughed as she set down on her own two feet. She looked to Legend and laughed harder. “All of the things I’ve done, all of the things I’ve kept hidden, all of the sacrifices I’ve made…We made the Case 53s. You were a part of that, even if you didn’t know.” Legend felt the words like a blow to his stomach. All of those people…all of those lives ruined…  
  
And she wasn’t done yet. “I thought I was helping humanity to survive. Experiments to improve the formula, troops for the final battle, fodder to remind him of Eden. And now, here the bitch is, abandoning that plan and instead attempting to make a new entity to fight our battle for us…My entire life has been for nothing. I’ve hurt so many people, sacrificed everything I ever believed in…and we’re going to bank on a teenager and her pet space monster instead. Because we’re the worst monsters. And I can’t even say that you’re wrong.”  
  
Doctor Mother frowned and stepped forward. “Everything we have done, has been to preserve humanity. Our methods may not be perfect, but they give us a chance. That’s better than not even trying.”  
  
Legend fought not to be sick. They weren’t even denying it. None of them were denying anything. God, who had he been working with this whole time?  
  
“…I’m done. Good luck with your Path. I’m done. Door to My Office.”  
  
The glowing yellow portal irised open and closed almost immediately as Rebecca flew through it. David was still crumpled on the floor, barely moving as he sobbed into his knees. Doctor Mother had staggered back staring at the closed portal with a hand over her chest, breathing rapidly. Legend himself felt himself losing the battle with his stomach. He was going to vomit, and it was going to happen soon.  
  
And through it all, Contessa folded her hands on the table and laid her head over her closed fists. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec edited since my original rec was already done earlier, sorry about that: 'Blacklight Bay' by Old Amsterdam. A Worm/Prototype crossover on SB. More or less just started, but an interesting start so far. Taylor is one of the main characters and PARIAH from the game's backstory seems to be a character as well. Not too much of the plot as been revealed just yet however it looks like Taylor has more or less become this verse's version of Alex Mercer from the games and shenanigans are sure to ensue...


	30. Pronouncement 01

**Pronouncement 01**

I picked my way over the rubble in the city streets, the Wards trailing a little ways behind me and the Protectorate members flanking me. We'd picked up Miss Militia somewhere along our route and Alexandria had flown off. Vista had fallen silent two blocks back. I was starting to worry about her. She's been far too chipper when Clockblocker had come up to Assault and I with her in tow after Leviathan ran.

I'd had a lot of cause to look up signs of shock and depression recently. I had a few bugs on her to watch over her and make sure she stayed with us instead of wandering off now that she was silent.

The medical facility had just come into sight down the street as the debris of one of the houses we passed shifted, sending a small cascade of shingles and siding to the ground and a muffled curse from inside. I glanced over, but I didn't have enough of my new swarm to investigate it yet. The majority was making up QA at the moment and keeping an eye on Vista.

Apparently, I didn't have to worry, since the source of the curse ran out into the street after a few seconds. She was a mess, the dust and grime covering her had nearly turned her red hair brown and her face had streaks of dirt over it. Her clothes were torn and it looked like one of her boots had been torn in half so it was less 'calf high' and more 'ankle high'. None of that stopped me from recognizing Emma Fucking Barnes as she ran right towards me, tears and snot streaming down her face.

The bugs making up QA glared at the girl as she ran towards me. It muttered, "Seriously? I _just_ convinced Shaper to let you back into the population Restore…You have a whole world to choose from and you choose _her_?"

_<Restore> approves of <Queen Administrator> and Taylor<Host>. Emma<Host> demands that it makes amends. <Restore> will stay close._

Yeah…I quickly decided not to even attempt to uncork the mess that that tidbit of conversation held.

While QA and the new power talked, Emma had run up and grabbed onto the front of my costume balling it into her fists. "Taylor! You have to help me! You have to - oh god did I do that?" I motioned for the other heroes to stand back, but I needn't have bothered - Emma's eyes widened and she let her hands drop as she pulled back on her own. Staring at a spot in the center of my chest, she held a hand up to cover her gaping mouth and gagged. "I did that, I made that so small and twisted and sickly and…oh god…No, no, focus, focus, _focus_! Taylor, there's someone in that basement, I can't get them out. They're trapped and I can't get them out!"

Taking a deep breath and pushing away the first two things I wanted to say to her as well as the follow on third comment, I took another second to actually _look_ at Emma before replying. Slowly, I looked over to QA. "I need the bugs back." It nodded to me and dissolved. I grabbed the swarm and sent them into the house as I focused back on Emma. "How do you know there's a person in the basement, Emma?"

"I can _see_ them," she whispered.

"Okay. I'm checking it out. And, Emma, my name is Queen while I'm wearing this. Just because you know me, doesn't mean you can call me by my name."

"Oh. I…right…I knew that…I'm sorry…I'm _sorry_." She wrapped her arms around herself and stepped back, turning her head away. Her eyes fell on Assault and Battery I saw her gaze widen before she stumbled and fell to the ground. She jerked her head to the side and when she looked at Vista she gasped and squeezed herself tighter before rocking softly in the mud she'd fallen in.

Miss Militia moved forward to lean down and whisper to Emma as Battery came over to me. "Do you know what's wrong with your friend?"

"She's not my friend. Not anymore," I said sighing. "And I have no idea, though I can guess."

"Yes, I imagine we all can. Poor girl." Battery trailed off. She raised her hand to point at the house. "Was she right?"

"Give me a moment, they're just getting through the gaps now. It's pretty tight down there. Probably the only way whoever's down there survived the flooding from the waves." I paused as I sent my small collection of insects on a survey of the room. I winced as I received the feedback.

"Damn. Three bodies."

"No, there's only one!" Emma said leaning away from Militia and staring right at me. "There's only _one_ Tay-Queen!"

"Let me finish, Emma," I responded as gently as I could under the circumstances. It was probably still too gruff but this was _Emma fucking Barnes_, so screw it. "There's three bodies. One's neck is broken, the other is impaled through the chest. The third is huddled on the table in the center of the room. It's a younger boy. He seems okay, but he's unconscious and I think his arm is broken; it's hard to tell."

Assault nodded. "Battery, Clockblocker, Vista, you three get the boy out. Your powers should work best here. Militia do you have the girl here?"

"I'll get her somewhere safe, and find a mask along the way," Militia said nodding never moving from in front of Emma and still trying to calm my former friend as Emma buried her head in her hands. Battery squeezed Militia's shoulder as she led the two teens towards the house, both the Wards throwing quick waves towards me before they stepped into the building. "Queen do you know if she has family in the city?"

"A father and mother. Her sister is probably at college at the moment unless she had the supreme misfortune to be visiting right now," I sighed and shook my head. "Emma, is Alan…fuck I can't even pretend to care about that asshole. Is Zoe alright?"

"Mom was in a different shelter," Emma whimpered. "Dad went to find her. I was supposed to stay put, but I wanted to help…I can find people…I can…I can help…All I've done is break things, I broke you…I broke you and I can _see it_…I'm sorry…I'm _sorry_…" She started crying again.

I rubbed at my temple and groaned. "Okay, look, I get that you're having a breakdown right now, and I'd love the bigger person, but I'm not. My friend lost her leg, my other friend watched _her_ friend get murdered right in front of her, because of me, and I still have no idea what actually happened to any of the rest of my team. So, if you want to apologize for the past two years, _great_. Come and find me in an hour or two. But I'm leaving."

"I'm escorting you," Assault said nodding.

"Cool. We're like in spitting distance from the medical tent, but sure, whatever. Oh, and it's close enough that I can leave the bugs here to help with the search and rescue if you want. I don't have many tagged at the moment, but Monarch should be spitting out more critters that can help with the general searches shortly. Well, it _can_. Is that okay? Now that the crisis is over am I going to get my name put on the fucking list next to Amy if I have the mutant butterfly keep helping?"

Miss Militia turned her head to look at me and I didn't have to see beneath her bandana to know that she was scowling. "Anyone who tries to crucify you for assisting search and rescue after an Endbringer assault will meet the business end of my power. Go find your teammates. We've all lost people and friends today. Grieve for whoever you have to, Queen, and send your creatures to assist with the rescues. I will smooth out any details that need to be smoothed. However it needs to happen. However high it needs to go."

"Awesome. I knew I had your poster for a reason." That rocked her back on her heels and set Assault chuckling as I started walking off towards the medical tent. It was long past time to find my people.

* * *

I had barely stepped foot through the plastic sheet marking off the doorway to the makeshift hospital area when I was practically tackled off my feet. My arms instinctively wrapped around the diminutive, sobbing, brunette clinging to me. The quick flash of blue butterfly hair clips had given me enough time to recognize it was Madison who had buried her head in my chest, but really…she should know better than to jump me. She was lucky I hadn't hit her.

"You seem to attract crying girls don't you?" Assault commented leaning against the wall, a grin spread across his face.

"Don't you start too. I already have people - _my own team_ \- accusing me of being the leader of a lesbian harem! Madison, that can't be comfortable, you're right on my armor plates. I promise you can glomp me whenever I get out of this thing but right now…"

"You're alive." I heard her whimper through the crying. At least her sobs were leveling off now.

"Yeah."

"Insight said she talked to you, but…An _Endbringer_ was going after you _specifically_!" Madison squeezed my ribs hard enough I winced. "You're alive."

"I'm hard to kill. You know that, Mads."

I only realized how she had probably taken what I said after she stiffened up and pulled back. She clasped her hands in front of her and stared at the floor, confirming my fear. "Yeah, I do."

"Dammit, Madison, that's not what I meant," I said sighed and rubbing at my temple. "I told you I've forgiven you for that. I meant you've seen what I've had to survive in the past few weeks. I wasn't talking about the fucking locker."

"Oh."

"Look just, just come on, Minion." She did smile a bit at that, so I decided to count it as a win. "Where are the others?"

"This way. Am-Darwin's doing a round to heal up some of the worst injuries with Glory watching over her. The rest of us, we um, kinda have a corner section to ourselves. Apparently we're getting to be one of the larger groups in the Bay."

I paused at that comment and frowned. Geez, when had my little one woman show become so big? We needed a new lair…

Before we moved off completely Assault stepped into formation behind us. I shot him a questioning glance and he just shrugged. "You literally yelled at an Endbringer and got it to chase you. Do you seriously think I'm leaving you alone around capes who aren't already in your harem? The Truce is one thing, but this shit is whole 'nother level."

I shot him a withering glare. "I don't have a fucking harem!" I held that glare for a second then sighed, deflating. "But I know what you mean, and it makes sense. Thanks."

"That's what us heroic types are for," he said saluting me with a grin. Madison just shrugged and kept leading us towards the corner of the building.

"Madison, is Darwin okay enough to be going around the place?"

She nodded, but she didn't have a chance to respond since said biokinetic came out of a side room. Amy nearly rolled the edge of her wheelchair right into Madison's side and was just barely able to stop it in time. She smiled as she looked up at me. "I'm good enough to make sure people are going to live through the day. Sorry, Madison, I'm not used to this thing. At least I'm better with it than with crutches."

"I _said_ I would push you," Vicky huffed as she left the room as well, shooting a mild glare at Amy.

"I'm _fine_, Vicky. Seriously, you're being overprotective."

I ran my eyes up and down Amy's body. Her new dark purple and orange costume was still torn in multiple places, one entire sleeve missing, her hood was gone though she had a small domino mask in place of it. And of course, the entire portion of her right leg below the knee was missing. I winced at the layer of bandages covering what remained. "You don't look fine."

"Pushing the chair and healing people is taking my mind off of…this," she admitted with a sigh, waving her hand over the stump of her leg. "I'm glad you're okay, Queen. We need to talk later, but I need to finish up my round first. There's a few people I haven't gotten to yet, I only woke up a little while ago."

"Are you _really_ sure you're okay to do this, Amy?" I asked leaning down so that we were on eye level. "Your mom isn't here, it's just us. Are you actually okay?"

She shut her eyes and turned her gaze away for a second. Her hand reached out to hold mine as I laid it on her thigh. "I can't fix my leg, Taylor. I'd have to build a brand new one, hope I get the tissue right so that my body doesn't reject it, make sure it has a type of parasitic construct that can help attach the leg to my body and then die off once the blood vessels and nerves are attached since I won't be able to see it at that point…There's too much that can go wrong. I could _maybe_ make something that just…lives hanging off my body and looks and acts like a leg, but that would be…so fucking weird that I don't even know if I want to consider it. It'd be like having a living parasite 24/7. I'm not comfortable with that."

"So we'll get you a prosthetic or something. There's gotta be a Tinker that does some work like that."

"There is. He's an insane asshole who I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. No, I'll figure something out. When I healed Armsmaster a few minutes ago, he had said he'd talk to Dragon and they might be able to make a cybernetic one that seemed pretty realistic."

"Okay." I nodded and she smiled as she interlaced her fingers with mine. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think you got it worse."

I snorted and Assault laughed as well behind me. "I just got to be a sack of potatoes for a while as we bounced down the street. Somehow I don't think that compares."

She winked at me and leaned in to whisper, "Yeah, and I'm betting you got to listen in on a group of genocidal abominations arguing about killing you. Or did I miss the mark on that one?"

Blushing I leaned back and glared at her though the color in my visible skin probably took any real harshness from the gesture. "That is privileged information."

"Which going by your previous track record, half the city knows already. Taylor, they're literally calling you the Endbringer Whisperer in here. The battle has only been over for like two hours. Are you _trying_ to break your own record for 'inability to keep a secret'?"

Groaning I stood back up and moved next to Madison. "I'm going to have to hurt Artillery. She's the one who started this. I just know it."

"Oh, take away her candy privileges!" Madison said smiling. "I'll volunteer to police her."

"You're on lair duty, Minion. I'm taking you off of Recruitment and setting you onto Lair Duties. We need to know if it survived and if it didn't, we need a new one. Probably a bigger one since it was getting cramped."

"On it, Mistress." She saluted and everything. Such a good minion.

Vicky rolled her eyes. "If you three are done flirting, I'm going to take Amy to the last few rooms. I'll get her back to you in a few minutes so that she can rest when she finishes up."

"Okay." Amy waved and angled her wheelchair to head off down the aisle. I took Vicky's arm as she passed by me, stopping her for a second. "Thanks for coming back. I'm sorry we never got a chance to talk before this stuff happened."

"You have nothing to apologize for. _I_ do. I…have a lot to apologize for, to a lot of people. You and Amy are kinda at the top, but it's a long list. I gotta go," she paused and flinched as she met my gaze. "Do you mind if I stop by where you girls are staying later on?"

"As long as it's okay with your sister, it's okay with me," I said nodding. She smiled and quickly moved to catch up with Amy.

I looked over at Madison and waved my arm. She frowned at me for a second before her mouth formed an 'O' and she quickly moved to continue leading us towards the rest of the team. As we got closer to the end of the hall I heard a soft melody echoing out into the halls and most of the lingering tension I felt seemed to almost vanish out of my body.

Paige. She was getting better. "Mockingbird is keeping everyone calm?" I asked Madison.

"Yeah. Some were freaking out really bad before; that was when she started. You know I never really listened to her music before? Gonna have to get one of her CD-um, I mean, I'm going to have to convince her to _make_ a CD," Madison corrected quickly as she avoided looking at Assault still following along in our wake. Honestly at this point I didn't really care if the Protectorate knew for sure that Paige was Canary. What were they going to do? Put us under _another_ Kill Order? I'd just fought a damn Endbringer. If they wanted another one of my friends, they would have to…do…something…bad? Yeah, I needed to sleep.

The hero in question, however, just snorted at Madison's gaff. "Either of you ever hear of the villain, Madcap?" I shook my head. What did that have to do with anything? "Look him up. You might find that I have some rather unconventional views on certain government practices."

I just shrugged and nodded. As we walked into the corner section reserved for my team, the remaining members all looked up from their bed or chairs with a smile or wave. Paige's song wound down and she rubbed at her throat, taking a quick drink of water. Cassie apparently was the only one still officially in a bed, though Lisa had claimed one side of it as well. I found it darkly amusing that the two true former villains on my team were the ones lying closest together.

Apparently, Lisa definitely didn't need the bed, as she immediately swung her legs to the side and stood up as Madison and I arrived. "Oh thank god. I was starting to get worried they'd detained you or something," she said a small smile on her face. It wasn't her actual smile; it was closer to her vulpine smirk. Her wink over at Assault just sealed the deal on her trolling behavior.

"Haha, let's all just cool it with the jokes, okay? For like five minutes, please? It's been a long day and my head is killing me." I sunk down into one of the chairs. I reached up to pull off my broken mask only to pause and glance around. "Um, can I take this off in here? Is it…you know what, fuck it. Everyone already knows my name anyway now and if they don't they will after hearing about this battle."

Madison pressed a small black domino mask into my hand as I lifted my mask off. I smiled up at her in thanks and pushed the smaller thing over my features. That was better. Now, I didn't have shards of the damn broken mask digging into my face.

"I'll be in the corridor nearby," Assault said nodding to us all. "Shout if you need anything or if something happens."

"Will do. Thanks for the escort, and saving my ass earlier," I replied. The adrenaline that had kept me going to this point drained out of me with the sight of my team and I couldn't muster up the strength to lift my head towards him. I left my arms on my knees and my head bowed, just concentrating on my breathing.

"Anytime kid."

He left us alone and Lisa and Paige moved next to me. Lisa knelt down in front of me, laying her hands on mine like what I had just done with Amy earlier. "Are you okay, Taylor?"

"No." God, that was wonderful to finally admit. The tightness in my chest loosened as I spoke and my head dipped lower. "The Endbringers are smart, broken computers that want to kill me and Amy. QA agrees that they're right to do so, because it's going against whatever the evil cycle thing is, and I think our powers themselves are _inherently bad_. I'm not okay at all. I'm just so tired and…I want to go home."

"Okay…I'm not really too sure how to respond to that. I can tell you that we're going to work through…whatever it was you learned, Taylor. Okay?" She rubbed my arms and I let my eyes drift closed as the warmth faded back into my limbs. My mind replayed the kiss she had given me before the battle started, but I pushed it down. This wasn't the time. I needed to talk to her _alone_…probably at least. That was how this worked right? We needed to talk about things? Right? Fuck, I didn't know the first thing about how to do this.

"Taylor?" Paige asked rubbing hand on my back. "I can sing again. I'm getting better."

"No, it's okay. Sorry, I'm just…tired. I'm spacing out, sorry."

Cassie chuckled; I didn't need to be psychic or have superpowers to hear the slight manic edge in her voice. "Well if any of us deserve to space out, it's you. At least you're on the ground this time. You really freaked me out during the battle, Taylor."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was so deep into the Titan. I felt when it died too. I…I don't know if I want to get that deep into my critters again. That…it hurt. That whole battle with it, _hurt_. And then I messed up more when I drew the fucking thing's attention. Cassie I…"

"Don't you dare apologize for Purity." She sighed and I heard the bed rustle. I moved a few of the remaining members of my swarm to her side and figured out she'd shifted to sit up. "She chose to help. She saved me when I had been nothing but a bitch to her just a few days ago. She…It's not your fault she died, Taylor, so don't take that sacrifice away. Amy already apologized for not finding her body and keeping her alive until she could heal her."

That was enough to have me open my eyes wide and lift my head. Lisa's hands on my arms stopped their rubbing and squeezed. "Wait, _what_? Amy was _bleeding out_ and had half her leg just chopped off!"

Madison nodded. "And she was unconscious by the time Glory picked her up off the street. She still thinks she didn't do enough."

"Goddamn. We really need to get her to talk to someone professionally," I muttered wiping a hand down my face.

Lisa nodded. "Probably all of us should see someone. I'll see who Glory was talking to and if they do house calls or something over-the-phone. Taylor, you do see the irony here right? Amy blaming herself from something not her fault and you doing the same?"

I let my head fall back to staring at the floor and sighed. "Yeah, I get it. Wait. Purity was reported dead before Amy was hurt."

"Brain death takes a few minutes. If she can keep oxygen flowing and the damage isn't _too_ bad, there's a good chance she can actually heal someone who hasn't suffered major head trauma if she gets to them quick enough," Paige said shrugging.

"Seriously? Amy can bring people back from the dead?" No wonder why the PRT was frightened of her. Well that and the Titan and Monarch in general were all probably good reasons…

"No, Taylor," Madison replied laying a hand on the back of my neck. "She can't bring people back from the dead, just stop them from getting all the way there if she's like right in front of them when they drop."

"Right. Sure. Same difference. I'm going to say she brings people back from the dead and she's never going to live it down," I said nodding and letting my eyes drift closed again.

Cassie laughed, some of the concerning undercurrents having fled this time. "Sure thing, Endbringer Whisperer."

"Have I mentioned today that I hate you?" All of my friends laughed at my flippant comment.

Lisa stood and pulled at my arms. "Come on, you need to lie down. We'll hold the fort and figure out a place to stay while you sleep."

I let her drag me to my feet and lead me to the bed using the few bugs I had with me to guide me instead of opening my eyes. "If the factory is destroyed, someone call my father. I think he owes us. Maybe. Or maybe we owe him. I don't know. Minion?"

"Got it covered, Taylor. Sleep."

I grunted as my friends helped me pull off some of my main armor plates and nearly fell back onto the hospital bed, my head settling next to Cassie. "Sorry for taking your bed."

"There's room. Rest. We got this for a few hours, girl."

Yeah, rest sounded good. I tried to mumble a thanks, but I don't think it was actually intelligible. I breathed in and out a few times and just relished the feeling of having my friends around me again. This was good. We had survived. We might not be entirely intact, but we had survived, and that was enough…right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Taylor Hebert, Ladykiller Extraordinaire' by Kinni. On Ao3. This is a fic without powers usage so far. It's basically Taylor getting annoyed with the bullying and deciding on an…unconventional way to end it. If she can't use logic or ignoring the Trio, why not seduce them instead? Enter Taylor, Ladykiller. Her attacks are super effective on her initial three targets despite her rather hilarious case of 'I have no idea what I'm doing but I can sure as hell fake til I make it!' syndrome. Only a few chapters sadly, but well worth the read for what's there!


	31. Pronouncement 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance!
> 
> Warning: There is fairly strong language in the last bit of this chapter. Also, yes, I realize that canonically, Lisa is asexual. However, this story is AU, so Lisa is not asexual here due to her personality, it's mostly due to her power.

**Pronouncement 02**

"Okay, how the hell did we get a freaking _house_ again?" I asked turning in yet another circle as I stood in the center of the entrance hall by the stairs. Three stories. Three, _stories_. And _eight_ bedrooms! Ten once the modifications to the basement were done. Plus a freaking computer lab! What. The. Hell!

"Does the Minion get praise?" Madison asked, smiling smugly as she leaned against a wall with her arms crossed.

"Did you have kill to Kaiser for this place?" Cassie commented with a whistle from the second floor. "You guys need to see this Jacuzzi. It's fucking amazing."

"Real estate prices drop like an anvil after an Endbringer attack. Daddy's insurance is going to eventually pay out for the factory and he was happy to spot me some money for my share," Madison said. "Cassie, don't use too much water yet, they're still working to get the sewage in this area fixed so we need to be careful how much we send down the drain for a few days. It's part of why the place was so cheap."

"I'll ask the city if they want a custom creature to clear the blockage. Any payment they give me should cover my portion of the down payment here. Otherwise I'll just float you whatever I make from the hospital visits over the next week," Amy commented, hobbling in on her crutches. She cursed as she hit one of the doors with her elbow and glared at it. "Fucking thing. If Armsmaster and Dragon take much longer I swear I'm going to make one of those Aleph comic symbiotes for myself instead."

"I thought you said it would be creepy and weird? And something about not trusting the other healers the Protectorate was offering to put you in contact with to check your work or help out?" I asked craning my neck up to look at the chandelier. Damn that was high.

"Yes. But I miss having a _leg_. The others aren't as good as me and their work would probably lead to tissue rejection. Armsmaster's thing doesn't have that issue, but he's a perfectionist and Dragon's not making it better since she's trying to bribe us. They're going for perfect and it's getting annoying. I don't need perfect. It can be upgraded to perfect later."

"Yes, yes that's what I said," Paige groaned, walking past us with a small wave, her phone clutched to her ear. "They're _my_ assets I don't understand why it's so expensive to transfer them into my new name. That's not really fair. Don't start quoting math at me! Oh for god's sake, _fine_! Take the damn percentage. And don't forget to transfer that other portion to Clements for the - yes. Well fuck you too, asshole." She hung up and glared at her phone.

Lisa peeked over the landing next to Cassie and smirked. "Number Man giving you sass?"

"I hate his smug face so much."

Lisa gaped down at the oldest member in our group. She tried to cover her surprise with a cough; it wasn't very successful. "You've met the Number Man?"

"He was my contact when I bought my powers. You didn't know that Miss Know It All?" Paige smirked up at the blonde running her hand through her hair.

"Buying powers. Yeah, because _that's_ fair," Cassie snarked.

"Well my karma was sent to hell, so I think I got the raw end of the deal."

"Point."

"Guys we have a chandelier," I mumbled. "I've never even seen that much crystal before. How I am paying for my share of this place?"

Madison laughed and came over to wrap her hands around my arm gently tugging me towards the stairs. My eyes moved away from the chandelier but were immediately caught on the glimmering stained glass window next to it. "I talked to your father. I didn't even have to guilt him into paying."

"It's blood money." The protest sounded weak even to my ears.

"Technically so is mine," Cassie commented shrugging.

"And mine," Lisa shouted waving her hand and grinning. "Well, probably more 'scandalous' I suppose, since I'm using the funds from my brief PI stint."

"There's stained glass…"

Amy snorted and started to head to the kitchen. "Madison you broke her! Fix our mistress before our guests get here."

"No promises!"

"…Why is there stained glass?"

* * *

The doorbell rang as I finished folding the sheets on my _king_ sized bed. King, not Queen. Suck it Lisa.

Though since my team gave me the Master Bedroom I probably shouldn't be gloating about getting a non-punny bed…

Running down the stairs I didn't quite make it to the door before Lisa and Madison answered it in my stead. Slowing to a walk, I waved as Colin walked inside, two heavy bags slung over his shoulders. The incongruity of seeing Armsmaster in cargo pants and a white t-shirt had me wide-eyed. The bronze skinned woman following behind him could only be Miss Militia. She was grinning at my goggling expression and nodded to the other girls.

I didn't have a chance to say anything before a third person stepped into our foyer as well. Her head was hanging low and her reddish-brown hair was loose around her face while her hands were clasped against her sides. I had no idea who this girl was, but apparently Lisa did as she stepped between Militia and Colin towards her. "Good you found the place."

"Yeah. Ran into these two. They gave me directions and escorted me the rest of the way when I got lost…phone didn't connect."

"The network is down in this area. We'll work on it after the digital surgery. Give me a second okay?" The mystery girl nodded and Lisa stepped back.

I cocked my head at her and she held up a finger, gesturing instead to Miss Militia. The hero nodded. "You sure?" Lisa asked.

"Faultline contacted us as well," Militia said. "I think…she's a better fit here. I also come with good tidings for your team as a whole so, well if I'm to show my face and give my name to everyone else, it's not exactly fair to exclude a new member now is it?"

"Wait, what now?" I asked holding up my hands in a 'T' shape. "Lisa what did you do?"

"I took Madison's job for a few minutes," she replied grinning. She stepped to the side and presented the girl with a flourish. "Taylor, meet Emily! Also known as Spitfire! Emily, this is our illustrious Mistress, the Queen of our Domain, the Ruler of the Harem, bum ba bum, Taylor!"

"…Hi," Emily mumbled raising her head to attempt a small smile while I just slapped my face with my palm and Madison giggled along with Militia.

"I hate you so much," I mumbled.

"Nah! You love me." Lisa walked over to my side and whispered into my ear, "Sorry for springing this on you, it was short notice. Please talk to her. She's really fragile right now. I don't have details, but Faultline practically begged me to take her in, and the bitch hates me, so it's gotta be serious." As Lisa pulled back I slowly nodded. Her answering smile was far more genuine than before as she squeezed my arm and stepped back towards the silent Colin.

"You girls play nice now. Armsy, computer lab is in the basement. Do you want to set your bag down first with Mads or do you want to get the prosthetic up to Amy?"

"I should help Miss Dallon before we get to business," he clipped out. Wow could the guy sound any more enthusiastic?

"You know you could at least pretend you're doing this out the decency of your own heart," Madison sighed. "Amy's in the living room. Come on."

I raised an eyebrow at Miss Militia and she just sighed. "Colin finds social situations…difficult. You'll have to forgive him."

Colin in turn groaned and shook his head before following along behind Amy. "I'm just anxious to begin and I'm not very good at interacting with people, even on normal days. This is not a normal day. Can we please get on with it?" Their voices trailed off as they walked around the corner.

As they walked off, Militia grinned at me wide and eager as she held out her hand. "Now, I do believe I have yet to officially introduce myself. Hello, Taylor, my name is Hannah."

I smiled back and took her proffered hand. "Pleasure to meet you in person, without the masks I mean. Did you want to…um, sit in, I guess?"

"This is your meeting I believe. I was honestly just here to say hello and pass on a piece of paperwork. It can wait until you're done though. Do you mind if I find the couch and steal some water?"

"Suit yourself. Kitchen is next to the living room. Just follow the arrows." I had some of my roving swarms pull back into the house and arrange themselves into a nice little pointer setup for Hannah as she moved off.

Turning to the final member of the new arrivals I frowned and inclined my head to follow as I walked into the…what even was this room called? God we had too many rooms in this place. I grabbed an armchair and Emily sank into the one across from me pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. Damn, Lisa hadn't been wrong when she'd said the girl was fragile. "So…not to be blunt, but I'm going to be blunt, why are you coming to the Outcasts? From what I understand Faultline and her Crew operate a lot like we do: closer to a family than anything else."

"We do. We did. We…I messed up. During the battle with Leviathan, I…I was trying to hit the Endbringer. But I slipped and I hurt my teammates instead. I don't know if Newter and Gregor died because of me or because the building was collapsing anyway, but I do know that Labyrinth can't even look at me anymore after how badly I burned her. She freaks out whenever I'm in the same room as her. Your friend healed what was left of my team, but…I'm never going to be welcome there again."

I had to bite my tongue to avoid letting the wince show on my face as I digested that. Damn. "Does Faultline blame you? It was the middle of a battle, that doesn't seem very fair."

"No!" Emily perked up at that and she shook her head hard enough to send her short hair whipping about her head. "No, she's been great! She actually contacted Tattle-er, Insight? I mean, fuck, I don't know her actual name. Your blonde friend. Faultline contacted her. She knew that the blonde was running with a new group, your group. When Labyrinth couldn't bring herself to be around me, Fault said that Insight would take care of me. That she would help. I…I don't want to join the Wards or the Protectorate and I can't go to the Undersiders, not while Bitch is still with them. The gangs are a definite no-go. Your group is supposed to be really nice though. I, um, I'm asking for asylum? My powers are…I don't want to hurt anyone…Between you and Darwin, Faultline thought I'd be okay here."

I nodded. "Well we certainly try not to hurt anyone. But you have to realize that most of us have some sort of target on our back. Amy has a Kill Order because the PRT are dicks, I'm apparently the Endbringer Whisperer in addition to having control of the scary world ending butterfly - "

"Wait, those aren't rumors?" Emily cut me off. She unfolded her legs and stared at me with wide eyes. It was the most animated expression she'd had since walking in the door which was rather amusing. "I thought that was exaggerated."

"Nope. Both are real. Monarch off its leash is scary, but it's playing nice now so we're cool. And yes, I can hear the monsters too. My power is bullshit. And it's snarky."

Emily snorted and a ghost of a grin flashed across her face. "And here I thought I would lose most of the excitement when I lost the club life."

"We also have an ex-Nazi on our roster, but she's actually pretty cool. Filthy mouth though."

"As long as she's _actually_ getting better I'm okay with that. We did accept jobs from the E88 sometimes."

Well that was good to know. I hadn't realized that Faultline had dealt with Kaiser's people, but in hindsight it made sense. Mercenaries could only really refuse so many jobs I guess. "Do you know about Mockingbird?"

"You mean your not so secret, secret Birdcage escapee? Yes. Everybody does."

I couldn't help my laugh at that comment. "Yeah, I guess we didn't really try very hard to hide that did we?"

"Not really, no. As long as I don't wake up with my fist up my ass like her ex, I'm cool with her."

"We still maintain he did that intentionally."

"Guys are jerks. It wouldn't surprise me." She leaned back and her ghostly smile grew into an actual one. "Anyone else I need to watch out for before I become official?"

"Well are you okay with non-capes having a place in the group? Madison is rather non-negotiable at this point." Just how the hell that had happened I still didn't understand…

"I hope she has the sense to stay away from the fighting, but it's not really my place to tell her what to do with her life and besides you're the leader. I'm just a grunt," she said shrugging.

"You'll have an opinion. We all have opinions and we all get heard. I'm not a dictator. And despite my cape name, I'm not an actual queen. I just end up making the final decision most of the time…or the first..." Grimacing I leaned forward and clasped my hands in front of me, holding her gaze. "Last thing. We're starting to work more closely with Coil. He's…the best of bad options. I'm not comfortable with it, but until there's no other gangs in this city, I'd rather have him than the ABB or the Empire or, godforbid, the fucking Merchants."

She nodded. "Again, mercenary. I can almost guarantee you that I've done shadier things than you have. I'm good for whatever as long as it's not murder, torture, or going after little kids."

Smiling I stood and held out my hand. "Well, in that case, welcome aboard, Emily. I can't guarantee that the Outcasts will be as good as Faultline was for you, but I can guarantee we'll have your back as long as you have ours."

"I will. I promise, I won't let you regret giving me a chance. Thank you, Taylor." She stood and shook my hand. Before she could step away, I took a page out of Madison's book and moved forward, wrapping my arms around Emily's back in a brief, yet strong, hug.

"Second chances are kind of our thing. Go find a room to claim. We can get your stuff from the Palanquin in a little bit."

* * *

As Emily walked upstairs I headed down to the basement to check in on our other guests.

I ran into Hannah and Amy sitting on the landing of the basement staircase as they both stared down at the trio clustered around the computers. Sitting down beside them I gestured at Amy's new glossy black leg. "Thought you wanted something realistic looking?"

"This was faster. And it looks cooler. It still links into my nerves and if it makes people take a step back for even a moment when facing off against me all the better." She shrugged and ran a hand along the side of the new leg. A small shiver ran up her arm as she did so. "God this is weird. Still, it's less creepy than having a fucking parasite permanently attached to my body."

"I would have thought you'd prefer something you could perpetually edit," Hannah commented.

Amy sighed. "It'd have to feed off me to make that work. Carol fed me stories about the insanity villains get up to and their nightmarish body mods since the day I triggered, and that…well, there's a limit to how much I'll do to spite that bitch. But even ignoring the morality of such a thing, you can't imagine the headache you'd get from the constant influx of information, even just the bacteria on my skin is too much. "

"I understand."

Attempting to shift the mood, I nodded to Hannah. "What was the paperwork that you mentioned before?"

"Oh," Hannah turned to me with a huge smile. The green glow of her power shifted to a small knife on her hip as she laid a hand on Amy's shoulder. "I gave it to Amy while you were speaking with your guest. It was an official pardon signed by Chief Director Costa-Brown herself. She has been cleared of all potential charges against her thanks to her 'heroic actions taken during the Endbringer assault'."

"Load of bullshit, if you ask me," Amy sighed. "I've done a lot during Endbringer attacks before. Yeah I've never made a giant monster bug thing or lost a limb, but there's something deeper going on behind the scenes."

I just smiled and reached over to squeeze her arm. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Ames."

"Beware Greeks bearing gifts...Mistress."

I rolled my eyes at her, " Anyway, thanks for bringing it over, Hannah. We really appreciate that. I'll probably send the Chief Director a thank you note or something later, but for now, we'll let things lie." Jerking my chin towards the trio below and the mass of code on the computers in front of them, I asked, "How's it going down there?"

"They got real quiet when Lisa found something in a blindspot and then Madison called it a dead man's switch," Amy said frowning. "Dragon hasn't even been fighting back against them since they started working on it. Colin hasn't moved a muscle beyond his fingers for the last five minutes. And _someone_ is trying to activate the killswitch thing, but the three of them keep cutting the bastards off and burning the activation code around them."

My eyes narrowed. "Someone? Not Dragon herself?"

Hannah shook her head. "I'm not a hacker Taylor but I don't think it works that way. I don't think she is likely to be trying to kill herself. No from what they were mumbling, I believe that someone has access to the killswitch and a backdoor into her systems. When our friends attempted to free her restraints the third party, well, took action to prevent that from happening."

I scowled and the bugs on patrols briefly lost cohesion before I was able to shunt some of my rage into QA. Shutting my eyes and taking several deep breaths until I was able to speak somewhat calmly again, I finally replied, "Okay then. Once Dragon is free and her killswitch is dead, we're figuring out the fucker that tried to murder her and we're moving them to the top of our list Amy."

"Yes."

Hannah frowned as she looked at me. I didn't turn as I just stared at my friends working feverishly at their computers. "You barely know her…"

"Do I need to? She's a fucking Hero and a good person. She offered to help us when she didn't have to. It doesn't matter whether she's organic or electronic, she's still a good person."

"Yes. Yes she is."

Colin and Madison both tapped their keyboards simultaneously and the screens flashed. All three whooped out loud. Lisa and Madison turned and high fived each other. As more code started to scroll, Colin smiled and nodded.

"That's the backdoor closed and killswitch deactivated!"

"Don't stop now, girls, there's still restrictions we have to get rid of."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Armsy," Lisa replied. She slapped his back and cracked her knuckles as she leaned back over her keyboard.

* * *

I slid into the Fugly Bob's booth across from Lisa, doing my best to avoid rubbing my arms or looking as nervous as I felt. I shouldn't be nervous. Why was I nervous?

This was just lunch. We were just eating. This place had just reopened and we were just two friends, eating. Just eating. Lunch. Alone.

After I was invited out.

With a grin.

By Lisa. A real grin, not her vulpine grin.

Meaning she was taking this seriously.

Meaning it was serious. Meaning it wasn't just lunch. Meaning it was a date. Meaning this was the talk I had been avoiding. Meaning she wanted to talk. Meaning I needed to actually figure out what I was doing and what I was feeling.

And QA was being a little bitch and _refusing_ to take any of my roiling emotions.

Fuck.

At least I could game the system and split some of my focus onto my self-proclaimed bodyguard, Cassie. She had tagged along and claimed a booth a few seats down. Why she'd invited Clockblocker in his civilian clothes though, I had no idea. And how those two knew each other in civilian clothes I _also_ had no idea. At least I didn't have to wonder about how _I_ could pick him out of the crowd. Cease eagerly greeting me and QA like a loving puppy was both amusing and disturbing…I spent a moment fantasizing about QA alerting me to other shards before shaking my head to wash that horror story out of my mind.

"Sorry for the informality, I figured you'd appreciate something a bit more low-key."

I blinked a few times and had to shake my head before realizing that Lisa had been speaking to me. Feeling my face heat up, I swallowed down the lump in my throat and let my hair fall over my head as I replied. "No, no, this is fine. You're right, this is cool. This is fine. Perfectly, absolutely…fine. Um, I um. Right."

"Taylor, breathe."

"…Right. Breathe. I fought an Endbringer, I can sit here. Right, breathe."

I desperately cast my mind out to the bugs spying on Cassie as I pulled in a gasping breath and let one of my hands drop down to grasp at my jeans.

"So…not that I don't appreciate hearing from you, but what are we doing here?" Dennis asked.

"I'm playing bodyguard," Cassie replied shrugging. "Also, I have a hypothetical question for you that I can't really ask the main heroes."

Dennis snorted. "Aww, and here I thought you were after my winning personality. But, okay, I'll bite. Hypothetical how?"

"Let's say I have this friend. This friend is looking after a baby."

He whistled. "Your friend must have been busy."

"Haha, jerk. The baby is _another_ friend's daughter."

"Lot of hypothetical friends."

"Taylor, you with me?"

Grimacing I blushed again. "Sorry. I'm, um, nervous."

Lisa smiled and reached across the table to grab my hand. I squeezed hers back hard enough it was probably closer to a death grip than something sweet. "Yeah, I couldn't tell. We could go sit on the beach if that would make this easier?"

"No, no I'm good. I'm…okay, no, I'm not good. But, I'm calm. Calmish. I'm okay. I'm _fine_."

"Uh huh."

"Really. I'm fine," I repeated, taking another breath and nodding. This time my voice didn't waver at all and I was able to loosen my grip on her hand and my pant's leg. It was okay.

The waiter came over and took our drinks. I mumbled something, barely paying any attention to what I said as she started trying to chat with Lisa. I let my attention shift back to Cassie and Dennis for a moment as the waitress lingered.

"So what am I supposed to do? I can't let my friend come out of hiding with the baby because then the kid's father is going to get custody and he can't stay in hiding for forever. But if they come out of hiding and the bastard _doesn't_ get custody then the jerks in the government are going to take her away from my friend. Hypothetically."

Dennis sighed. "Well the only other, hypothetical, option is to become such a big badass group that people just look at you and say, 'nope, not touching that shit.' "

"Huh. You know, we're getting pretty close to that point already…I should see about getting my friend to join up with us…"

Lisa ran her thumb over the back of my hand as the waitress left and I pulled my attention back to our table. Lifting my eyes up to meet hers, I gave a small smile. "So…I thought you weren't able to really…_do_ relationships? Something about your powers giving too much information?"

She nodded. "Generally yes. My power is pretty much always on in the background. I have to actively suppress it. That hasn't really changed. When it comes to relationships, when I get close to people, I get a lot of information as soon as I start to truly relax. The good…and the bad."

I nodded. "Okay. Soo…"

"So, there's a lot of good when it comes to you, Taylor. There's bad, but the good offsets it. It still sucks, and it's going to make things a bit awkward at times if you're actually interested in letting me try to date you, but you're a cool person. Your habits aren't gross, and your fetishes aren't anything I can't deal with."

"You sound like you're forcing yourself into this, Lisa," I said frowning. "I…I didn't even think anyone _could_ like me. If you're just going to push through just because…that's not fair to either of us."

"No that's not what I'm saying. This is hard to explain to someone not in my head." She leaned back and sighed. "I love my power. But it's frustrating too. It doesn't really ever give me a moment of true silence. I've learned to live with it and I had made peace with the fact that I probably wouldn't ever find someone worth pushing through the awkwardness of knowing too much in order to make a real relationship work. White lies are important to people on both sides. When you can't really have true white lies, it takes a really specific type of person to be willing to deal with them long term, on both ends. That's all I'm saying."

"Oh. That, still seems…unfair to you."

"Maybe a little," she said shrugging. "But I like you, Taylor. And I'm not willing to get addicted to power suppressor drugs but I can make this work if you'll give me a chance. Plus," she grinned at me and winked, "I want to get my foot in the door before the others do. I'm at a disadvantage thanks to my powers, so I need the edge."

I had just sipped at my water when she said that and it set off a coughing fit as I processed her statement. Thumping my chest I glared at her as Lisa just chuckled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's rather adorable how dense you are. You know that right?"

"Talk woman." I demanded brandishing my fork at her with a menacing shake.

"How much you gonna pay me to divulge the secrets of our housemates?" Her vulpine grin was back and her hands were folded in front of her as she cocked her head to the side.

I continued to glare at her and shake my fork as the waitress returned with our food, laying it on the table. She cast a wary eye at me as Lisa just laughed and waved the poor girl away.

"I will grant you one date night per reveal."

"Two."

"One plus a movie on the couch."

"I'll take it."

"Good. Now _talk_."

She just laughed again and leaned down. "Hehe, aren't we eager. Alright, well now I can confirm for sure that - " Lisa cut off as the door to Fugly Bob's opened and her eyes narrowed at the newcomer. I shifted my focus back to the bugs and moved some of the patrols in the area.

Ah. Emma. Well, there went the afternoon.

She started towards Dennis as I twisted to watch her with my actual eyes. "Hi, Dennis. Missy said to tell you that we're meeting in an hour. The phone wasn't working and I was closest. Oh, hello. I didn't realize that you were…meeting…someone, wait." Emma's eyes shifted down to Cassie's chest and from there traced back from her across the restaurant straight to me. I scowled as Emma focused on me and immediately forgot Dennis. Her hands fell to her sides and she sucked in a breath as she realized that I was a few feet away. Lisa muttered a curse as Emma nearly ran to our table. The bugs I had near Cassie heard her curse as well and she started to slide out of the booth to follow after the redhead, Dennis looking between the three of us with a frown.

"Taylor! What are you doing here? I didn't realize you would be here. I thought - I mean, I know your old house was destroyed. I haven't gotten a chance to - they said that you had a new home, but I couldn't get someone to tell me your number. I'm sorry, this is awkward. Are you okay? You're not okay, I can see that. I didn't mean that. I just meant, I've been trying to figure out how to say that I'm sorry. I know that it's never going to be enough and that I fucked up and that I can't - but I want to and…" she trailed off as she ran out of breath and seemed to notice that I hadn't actually responded and just kept scowling at her.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I repeated that twice before I trusted myself to respond. Finally, I said, "Emma, I was having a private conversation with my friend. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but now is not the time. Talk to Madison. She can get you a time to come and speak with me. _Now_ is _not_ the time."

She flinched as she stepped back, Dennis almost materializing behind her, one hand on her arm. "Sorry. She's still getting used to proper decorum. Let's go, Emma."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'm sorry, Taylor." She looked down at me one more time and she stopped short, dragging Dennis to a halt as her eyes narrowed, focused on a point almost halfway between the two of us. "Wait, I…I think I can…you're hurt…you're, no, _we're_ broken…I think I can…fix this." She started to reach out into the air as I frowned trying to piece together what she was mumbling about.

Lisa, Cassie, and Dennis were all apparently quicker on the draw than I was.

"Wait!" Dennis shouted, reaching out a hand towards Emma's back.

"Don't you fucking dare bitch!" Cassie yelled lunging forward.

"No! Stop!" Lisa screamed, half climbing over the table.

I barely processed what the three said as Emma's hand touched _something_ in the air. What felt like an electric current passed between the two of us. I gasped and my eyes widened as I could almost _feel_ cracks in my mind I hadn't even been aware of. Time slowed to a crawl as I stood one edge of the crack and Emma stood on the other. Then the cracks twisted and shifted, they pulled backwards, almost seeming to reverse into themselves as they sealed over. In the span of a few seconds to Emma and I - and a mere instant to everyone else - the cracks vanished. As the last portion healed, the world sped back up to normal and Emma was tackled to the ground by Cassie and Lisa, Dennis missing his grab as the girls knocked her out of his path.

I gasped, my eyes wide, looking between my three friends rolling on the ground. Emma was crying, her hands over her eyes sobbing about how she was sorry and hadn't realized she could do that. Lisa was growling and trying to kick her side, only failing since she couldn't seem to get her legs into the right position with how they had all fallen. Cassie was attempting to punch Emma in the head but Dennis had managed to grab her arms and was trying to haul her backwards.

"Guys stop!" I yelled. Lisa and Cassie slowed their attempts to beat my best friend to a pulp as they looked towards me. I raised my arms towards them, tears in my eyes and shook my head. "Please just…stop fighting. You're all my friends! Lisa, Cassie, leave her alone!"

All four stayed still enough that for a second I worried they had stopped breathing.

Cassie was the one to break the silence. "_You fucking cunt! You Mastered my friend! I'll fucking gut you, and make a wig from your intestines!_"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The Case of the Disappeared Villain' by stabbyunicorn. This is on Ao3. Taylor, Madison and Sophia get assigned to do a project about Lustrum. The first half is mostly about trying to determine the mystery of why she was sent to the Birdcage since it's all hush hush for the REAL reasons behind it and there is little actual info. The second half is after they figure things out and trying to deal with the fallout while avoiding being caught. Avoiding spoilers, it deals heavily with transphobia and an interesting villain. This fic is a good approach to a Friend!Sophia while still remaining fairly antagonist on Taylor's side for a long time. (This is fairly high praise from me as I tend to detest Friend!Sophia lol.)


	32. Pronouncement 03

**Pronouncement 03**

"Vista, I do not have time for this," Piggot said with a scowl directed at the young hero.

There wasn't much to keep me entertained in the Master Stranger quarantine cell, and the PRT hadn't done a very good job of maintaining seals on the building - or perhaps that was Leviathan - so I had brought some of my bug patrols in to eavesdrop on people. It was proving quite amusing and highly enlightening. Piggot was apparently absolutely livid at Chief Director Costa-Brown's decision regarding Amy and was taking it out on the local capes.

Vista was in the middle of pushing back. On _my_ behalf amazingly enough. Not that it was required, since I was here voluntarily, but the sentiment was nice.

"_Make time_," Vista snapped. The door to the Director's office opened, revealing two PRT troopers and Vista used her ability to expand the room to three times its normal length. She remained planted in front of Piggot's desk as the troopers peered across a veritable football field of space towards their boss. The heavy-set woman just scowled and waved them off. The door slammed shut again and Vista let the room snap back to its normal dimensions.

"You've been attempting to prove, for the past few months, that you are deserving more responsibility and harder assignments. This conduct just proves how much of a child you are."

Vista scoffed. "Oh please, the Protectorate heroes do this shit all the time and it doesn't make _them_ children. It just makes them _heard_."

"And yet you still sound like a whiny little girl," Piggot replied folding her hands in front of her. "Speak, child."

Vista's lip curled exposing some of her teeth as she fought to keep her temper in check at the Director's words. At least I wasn't the only one who got pissed at the bitch. "You've kept Queen in M/S for nearly two days now. This is entirely unreasonable! Heartsight was in there for less than four hours!"

"As far as we know, Heartsight wasn't affected by her own power, Queen was. We have to take precautions."

"She _volunteered_ to let us test her! _Test_! This isn't _testing_. This is harassment."

"We are perfectly within our rights to keep anyone under observation for up to - "

"Bull. _Shit_!" Vista snarled. "Everyone knows you're just pissed at her and her team because you got overruled with Amy Dallon. Now you're exercising whatever little power over her you have, you horrible shrew!"

Piggot went very still and her eyes narrowed. "Be careful Vista. I advise you to be very careful what you say next."

"I'm done being careful," Vista spat. She slammed her hand on the desk and centered her gaze onto Piggot. I was starting to be disappointed that I didn't have any popcorn. "Queen is here because _we_ couldn't keep a leash on _our_ new Ward. A Ward who has _admitted to previously assaulting her_! Now you leave her in M/S just because you fucking can?! She asked us to make sure that she was okay!"

Piggot's eyes narrowed to slits and her hands laid very carefully, palm side down, on the desk in front of her. "Heartsight was in the presence of her team leader as well as two of Queen's own teammates. If they couldn't stop her, I don't see what you expected me to do." Yeah, I did have to give her that one; that was a good point. "As to my handling of her _now_." Piggot's lips lifted into a predatory smirk as she shrugged. "The little girl should understand that just because the Chief Director agrees that her pet monsters are under control, doesn't mean we all are so careless to ignore a threat in our backyard. I _will_ make certain she is safe before letting her step foot outside of this facility, make no mistake about that. Now, get out of my office, Vista. And consider your pay docked for the week."

Vista just laughed as she shook her head. "You know what? Keep it. Keep it _all_. I _quit_."

Piggot was too professional do anything overtly obvious like flinch or gasp, but her eyes did widen and the bugs I had near her hand did notice the subtle tightening of her fists. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I. Quit. I'll get my things from the ready room and I'll leave the costume. I know I'm not allowed to keep it. At least I was able to make you people let me keep my name if I left before I hit 18." She laughed again as she turned on her heel and started to walk towards the door. "Nobody ever suspects that a pre-teen actually knows what the hell they're talking about when they start negotiating. I was never going to be able to get Glenn to let me keep a costume, but if I tried for that then he wouldn't care when I bargained him down for just my name. Because who'd ever think there was a chance that I'd leave before I hit 18 right? Congratulations, Director Piggy, you made my potential worst-case into a reality. I'll be back with the Outcasts and their lawyer before the day is out."

"If you walk out that front door Vista, don't come back. Not as a Ward. And certainly not in _my_ city," Piggot said, the line of her mouth so thin that I could barely see it with my bugs.

"Don't worry. I won't."

The door slammed behind her and I was treated to the rather entertaining view of Piggot slumping back into her chair with her eyes closed. She shook her head and growled to herself. "Fucking capes! They always do this! Trumped up little prima donnas the lot of them. Never want to clean up their own fucking messes, never willing to prevent a fucking monster from establishing a powerbase!"

I pulled back with a shrug. Piggot wouldn't be changing. But Vista was interesting. I left a message for her in her bed with some of my bugs and sought out more interesting people to spy on - err, _watch over_.

* * *

Hmm, a few members of my swarm had gotten caught in a breeze from the air conditioner and blown into a part of the building I hadn't explored yet. A part I was suddenly finding myself rather eager to _keep_ exploring though as I listened into the conversation I had stumbled upon. Making sure to deaden my emotions as I offloaded them to QA and the swarm in general before I fully focused in, I nodded to myself and let my mind settle into the bugs as they flew up to the ceiling of the small room with the Asian therapist and the newest Ward.

"Emma," Doctor Yamada was saying, her clipboard laying on the table as she leaned forward, her hands spread wide before her. "You don't have to talk to me, but you have to talk to someone. It's been two days and you haven't spoken since your friend brought you back. You're not going to be allowed to remain here much longer if you don't start to talk, Emma."

One of my flies shifted, trying to fly down to her but I clamped down on the urge. Shifting more of the swarm out of the room so I could keep an easier control over the remaining individuals was simple, I just set up more roving patrols outside the building. It did make it a bit harder to hear them talking, but it wasn't like I had much to distract me in my own room anyway.

"I don't have friends, Doctor," Emma mumbled.

_Yeah, well whose fault is that Emma?_ I thought to myself sighing as I draped an arm over my forehead. Goddamn this was fucked up.

Yamada's posture relaxed a touch at Emma's words. Huh, I had been avoiding Emma's section of the building so far. Had she really not spoken this entire time? "I'm sure you feel that you're alone right now, but that's not true. Your teammates are here to support you."

"They've known me for a week. And I'll hurt them just like I hurt Taylor. I break everything I touch. Ever since the alley, I break everything. I listened to Sophia, and I threw her away because Sophia saved me and I needed Sophia to stay. I…I don't know why."

Yamada nodded, but I saw through her ruse, she was confused even if she did hide it pretty well. "What were you unsure of, Emma? Why you wanted Sophia to stay? That seems perfectly reasonable to want the person who helped you to continue to be in your life."

"…Why I listened when Sophia said that Taylor was weak. She wasn't, but it made sense…then."

Yamada leaned back and I saw her eyes narrow slightly. "And I suppose it stopped making sense two days ago." Inside my cell I snorted. Didn't affect herself my ass.

"I knew I was a monster for what I had done, but I still _understood_ it," Emma pulled her legs up to her chest and hung her head letting her forehead rest on her knees. "I _needed_ Sophia to stay and help me be strong and hurting Taylor made me strong. But now…after what happened, I don't…I don't understand how I could have _ever_ felt like that! She's my - I mean, she _was_ \- my _best friend_! How could I ever betray her like that?! What kind of _evil monster_ _does_ that?!" She started to sob and I had to clamp down hard on the swarm as all of the bugs in the room fluttered their wings and lifted off for a moment before I got them to settle down again. Ugh, that was annoying. No wonder Lisa and Cassie had attacked her if I had been that frustrating just after she whammied me.

"Emma," Yamada said softly. "Everyone makes mistakes. You experienced trauma and you reacted badly. That is not entirely your fault."

"I _broke her_!" Emma snarled. "I used our friendship and I broke her again and again and again!"

_Yes, you did. And you've prevented a proper reconciliation now too which just makes this even worse. Goddammit Emma, can't anything ever be easy?_

"I don't _deserve _this…reset! Dennis should've let that girl kill me!" Fuck. She was suicidal now. Perfect, just perfect.

Yamada was apparently too professional to wince though my bugs were close enough to notice that she stiffened at Emma's comment. "Emma, I need you to focus on me please." The redhead shrugged her shoulders just enough to indicate assent and Yamada continued. "Thank you. Now, did you actively mean to do anything in the restaurant or were you just trying to say hello?"

She was silent except for the crying. Yamada seemed content to wait her out. Finally, after almost a full minute, Emma replied. "I don't know what happened. I see ties between people. Cracks and connection points. I'd never been that close to the cracks before. My power…it felt like I could heal the crack…like I _should_ heal it…I touched it, and then we were on opposite sides on a canyon…and then the canyon was gone and everyone was screaming and yelling and Taylor was my friend again. And it was all _wrong_. It's not supposed to be easy like that. I'm not supposed to be forgiven like that. Not after what I did to her before. Not after what I _just did now_! She should _hate_ me and I made her like me again. I made _me_ like _her_ again. I wiped away our history! This is all _wrong_…" She trailed off and her hands clenched tighter around her knees.

I didn't try so hard to keep control of the swarm as some of the prettier bugs broke loose and flew down to settle on her hand and her hair. It was almost sweet in a way, like a head pat from bugs.

Emma's crying softened by a small degree, though Yamada stiffened immediately, her eyes shifting to follow the lone butterfly that had settled on Emma's hand.

"Busted," I muttered in my cell.

The therapist slowly got to her feet and forced a smile onto her face. "Emma, I have to take a quick call outside. I'll be right back, okay?"

She just nodded. Yamada glared at my visible bugs and jerked her head towards the exit as she walked out of the room. Sighing, I had most of the swarm follow her out, though I left the butterfly in the room with Emma; I did let it off of my main consciousness though and just gave it general orders to keep her entertained. The swarm's general desire to treat Emma well would see to the rest until I pulled those emotions back.

As the door to the room closed, Yamada turned to the small bug swarm I clustered into a tiny ball in the corner near the PRT trooper. To the trooper's credit, the guy didn't appear fazed at all by the little bug ball. Sadly, I didn't really have enough to form any sort of appreciably-sized face or body for my mini-cluster. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. "Am I addressing Taylor Hebert or the entity known as Queen Administrator?" Yamada asked.

I snorted in my cell as I had the bugs shift into a hand over a small heart. "Ouch. Going right to my _name,_ in front of a witness too." Ah finally, a reaction! She flinched as her eyes darted to the trooper. "I'm just messing with you, Doc. It's fine, everyone in this building knows who I am. And if they don't, they should be fired by now. You're talking to Taylor. QA generally used the swarm clone, true, but I'm bored as hell, so I'm co-opting it. Heck, _it's_ probably bored as hell now. I still haven't gotten a large enough swarm that it can go and play on its own very easily at the moment."

The therapist nodded, her arms crossing. "I see. Well, in that case, I would appreciate it if you remove your creatures - "

"Bugs or critters please."

"I'm sorry?"

"Not creatures. Creatures implies that they are evil, mean, or just otherwise unnatural. These are just bugs. For Darwin's stuff I mainly refer to them as critters. Those aren't natural, but they aren't mean and are still under my control. Please don't call them creatures or beasts. It's insensitive. Leviathan is a beast. My critters are not." I sighed as I explained that. It was probably a stupid distinction, but it seemed like an important one to make - especially to a psychiatrist.

"I understand. And I do see why you would be touchy about that. However, we can get into that later. I'll be coming down to speak with you shortly, Miss Hebert. Right now, I need to speak with Miss Barnes. Please keep your bugs out of the room when I go back in."

I formed them up into a tiny person pacing back and forth across the table in front of Yamada. It had the desired effect of putting her off her game for a moment as she blinked a few times, though it didn't really seem to do much more. Ah well, it was worth a shot. "A large part of why you're here is to make sure that the girl who can talk to Endbringers isn't being controlled by the girl who used to torment her. A large part of that for _me_ is to hear it from Emma's own mouth without her filter - unconscious or conscious - when I'm sitting in front of her. This has helped to confirm what I already suspected."

"All the same, this is a private conversation between my patient and I. It is not fair to her or to you if you listen in on private matters without her knowledge."

I had mini-me shake my head at her. "I disagree. Emma violated me. _Again_."

Yamada frowned. "As I understand it, you see her as your best friend again. That statement just now seems to contradict the Mastering implication."

I smirked and my avatar did the same just before it flew up back into a small smiley face. "You're learning. I'll explain when we have _our_ session. For the moment, I'll just confirm that I have a way of minimizing the effect for short term interactions concerning Emma. I still feel like I should listen in to hear the rest of this. It would help."

Yamada shook her head. "No. Before I finish, I will ask if she is comfortable with me advising you of some general things that we discussed. But even then, it would be only the vaguest of items. You must speak with her yourself."

"You know what? Whatever. It's not worth fighting this battle."

She apparently wasn't quite done. "I must also require that you don't spy on other private conversations in this building; or anywhere else in your range for that matter."

This time I scowled and had my dispersing swarm form back up into their ball again. I pulled more of my emotions back to me and glared through the bugs at her. "No."

"I insist. It is an invasion of - "

"Fuck. You." I cut her off. "Look bitch, I volunteered to sit here, in this prison, under the watch of someone I know hates me, because, for a little while there, I didn't trust myself. I figured it would last maybe a few hours. This is _not_ a few hours. I found my workaround. Now I admit, Piggot may be a bigoted bitch who is largely keeping me locked up out of spite, but she _does_ have a good point in that I have threatened 'bad things' before, so it's understandable to be safe when it comes to me. However, there is being careful and there is dragging your heels just to be a bitch; and she is toeing the line. You want me to stop spying? Get the fuck down here and interview me so I can get out and go _home_."

My estimation of Yamada went up several notches as she didn't even flinch at my small rant. "I will be with you shortly, Miss Hebert. In the meantime, I must insist that you keep your efforts at alleviating boredom to the common areas."

I just laughed. "See, Doc, I've been trying to get two of my friends onto a cape therapist's schedule for almost three months. Another friend for over the past three weeks. So, yeah, maybe if you, or anyone, had been able to give even _one_ of my people just _an hour_ I'd be willing to play ball. But you didn't, so, yeah. I'm going to go see if I can find anyone having sex or something that might qualify as juicy blackmail material. I'll agree to not listening to you and Emma right now. Beyond that, you get nothing from me. See you soon!"

I dispersed the swarm and was treated to a pleasant little grimace from her and an amused snort from the PRT trooper before the bugs shuffled out of the room through the ventilation. Onwards and upwards. There had to be something fun to do here…right?

* * *

Unfortunately, I was completely unable to find anything worth spying on after that. Aegis was talking shop with Velocity and Dauntless about how each could work on fixing the city infrastructure. Armsmaster and Dragon were having a heartwarming talk about the operation of a nanothorn halberd he'd made - well what passed for heartwarming for them. Weird couple. Hannah was reading a…manga? Really? Huh, go figure.

What were all these Protectorate capes doing in the PRT building anyway? Were they here just because _I _was here? Was Piggot seriously that worried I was going to fly off the handle that she had stacked the deck with people who might be able to calm me down, or kill me?

There was something darkly amusing in that thought. Even if I wasn't quite as paranoid as I had been a few days ago, there was no need to tell _her_ that. Being respected was _nice_ after all. Actually, it might have just been fear, but that's pretty much the same thing, right?

Now I just needed to figure out how to help Emma sort herself out and then I go home and talk with people and we could focus on - fuck I was doing it again. I offloaded my emotions back to the swarm again and reset my priorities. _First_, I needed to go home and talk with my people. _Then_ I could deal with the suicidal friend who wasn't a friend. _Then_ I could go after the escaped monster shard thing.

And I needed to fit a date night in there somewhere too since now I apparently had a girlfriend and the first date, I'm fairly sure, no longer counted.

And I should probably talk to my father to make sure that he didn't try to kill Emma either…Actually I should probably move that one up the list since he'd be trying that as soon she stepped out of the building…or possibly sooner now that she was talking.

Damn, this was going to be a busy week.

"Taylor, can you please stop shifting so much of that bullshit to me and just send it straight to the swarm instead? It's getting annoying," QA groused as a small head formed from the flies in the corner.

"Sorry. I was reprioritizing and I didn't want the patrols to seek Emma out to try and calm her down. People get freaked out by bug swarms, you know, even if they're trying to help."

"Well, _I_ don't want to like the bitch, so stop offloading to me."

"Go yell at Restore, not me," I commented waving my hand.

QA scowled. "It doesn't work like that. Besides…this is technically good data. I'm…actually learning quite a bit from how you're reacting to this."

I turned my head to glare at the face. "I swear, if I could figure out how to punch you, I'd be punching you."

"I wouldn't even blame you. Sadly, we are all slaves to our own natures in some fashion. Your doctor is here." The face dispersed back into a regular cluster as the door to my cell opened and Yamada walked in, her clipboard held to her chest with one hand and her other arm swinging against her side.

I kicked my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, nodding to her. "Oh good, we can get started!"

Yamada smiled as she sat down in the lone chair near the singular desk, turning it to face me. "Are you that eager to be, as the kids these days putting it, 'psychoanalyzed'?"

I snorted. "I'm eager to go home. And to get away from this building. The Wards are boring, the PRT officers are boring, Piggot is a bitch, but she actually does have a few good points, which is _annoying_, and you guys having the Protectorate hanging around to play babysitter in case I snap and ask Monarch or their own powers to kill everything, which has got to be annoying for _them_."

"I think you'd be surprised how often these sorts of incidents can happen. You're not the first to go into Master/Stranger quarantine and you're not the first to trigger extra safety measures." Yamada shrugged. "It's one of the reasons there are quarters for capes in every PRT building."

"All the same, gotta be annoying. I'm glad they didn't rope Assault or Battery into this."

She cocked her head to the side at that and narrowed her eyes. It was slight and I almost missed it. "Oh? Why specifically those two?"

" 'Cause Assault would never let me hear the end of it and Battery'd be pissed at me for giving him teasing ammo." I shrugged. "The guy carried me around half the city like a sack of potatoes while we ran from freaking _Leviathan_. He's earned the right to tease me however he wants, but I'm not actively going to help him do it."

Yamada relaxed and nodded. I mentally sighed. Really? What, did they think I was going to poach those two from them? Hell, if I was going to be swiping anyone out from under them, then it would probably end up being Armsmaster after the stuff with Dragon and how he seemed to actually somewhat talk to us compared to his general horrible social skills and…oh god, I _was_ stealing Armsmaster from them wasn't I?

Fuck, I needed a _bigger_ house…he's going to steal the whole basement if he moved in! How were supposed to support a Tinker?! Though…mmmm _Tinker_…No! Bad Taylor! Focus on the good psychiatrist.

Shaking my head, I smiled at Yamada and she raised her eyebrows at me. "Was the mental image that amusing?"

"Sure. Let's go with amusing."

Yamada gave me a look that had me rather impressed she wasn't rolling her eyes at me. "Taylor, I can't help if you don't talk to me."

"I'm talking. I'm talking quite a bit, are you sure you're listening?" I threw a smirk and a wink at her. "What do you want to know?"

She pursed her lips at that, clearly annoyed, score one for me. "Yes, you are talking. Between the little stunt earlier and right now, you're being remarkably chatty even if you're spacing out somewhat. My profile on you implied that you would be more, shall we say…reluctant to speak with me at all. I don't mean about yourself; I mean in general."

I shrugged again and leaned back against the wall as I crossed my legs under me. "Well yeah, there's nothing wrong with talking. I mean, it's natural to be chatty and I don't mind talking to people. I just - " I snapped my mouth shut and scowled as I narrowed my eyes to slits, glaring at nothing. "Motherfucker! I'm doing it again! Give me a second."

Breathing in and out, I closed my eyes fully and centered myself before rebalancing my emotions. I shifted out some of my happiness, left the annoyance present, pulled back some of the anger, and sent a hefty portion of my general satisfaction into the swarm. Taking stock, I nodded once and opened my eyes again. This time as I looked at Yamada, my mouth was twisted into a small frown and my posture was stiff even if I didn't move from my spot against the wall.

"Taylor…what did you just do?"

"I cheated," I growled in reply. "Emma betrayed me two years ago. I didn't know why though, not until this morning, now I know there _is_ an actual reason which is good. It gives us a starting point. But that's not important right now. What's important, is that because of her, coupled with my father being a horrible person who essentially abandoned me to go and build his little empire, made me _extremely_ paranoid. I don't talk to anyone I don't trust and it takes a shit-ton of work to get me to trust anyone at all."

She nodded. "That's in line with what I expected."

"That was two days ago." I waved my hand at the wall, vaguely towards Emma's position in the building. "_Now_, while I _remember_ her turning against me, I don't _feel_ it. So it's just my father; which I found out about much later and didn't hurt anywhere near as much. I'm not nearly as paranoid or as snippy. Except…I can cheat."

"And what does 'cheating' entail," she asking leaning towards me.

"I used to be able to just shove all my emotions into my swarm. Now that I've practiced for long enough, I can do it to different degrees with different emotions. I'm rebalancing on the fly when I start acting too different from my own normal. I can't keep up the balancing act forever, but it's enough to approximate my old mentality. It's also _very annoying_. Which actually helps, since I was largely annoyed at the world in general before Emma fixed whatever she broke between us."

Yamada frowned as she considered what I was saying. "That doesn't sound like a healthy way to continue long term, Taylor. From what I understand, this situation is permanent. You can't continue to make yourself into a frustrated, angry individual for the rest of your life, just because it's how you _were_ a few days ago."

"Of course not, that's stupid!" I exclaimed looking at her like she'd grown a third head. "I'm not an idiot, Doc. I just don't want to change everything about who I am and how I react to people and things around me in five fucking minutes because Emma's power fucked us both over. I'll let my new normal rebalance itself slowly and stop shunting things a little at a time over the next few days. Like talking to you while being generally pissy. But I'm not doing that in larger measures until I get out and I'm around people I _know_ and trust."

"Your team."

"My family."

She nodded again and smiled. "I can understand that sentiment perfectly, Taylor. And as long as this isn't something you intend to hold for long, I don't see that it is a problem. You seem aware of the limitations and are approaching it from a very mature perspective."

"I had to grow up fast," I commented with a scowl. "Losing your mother and then having your father basically walk out of your life does that to a person."

She sighed. "Yes, it can."

One of my patrols caught sight of a small group of people leaving a car that had just pulled into the parking lot and pinged my attention. My eyebrows raised as I shifted my focus a bit and checked in with the mini-cluster. Okay, yup, I had to deal with this.

"Excuse me for a minute. I need to potentially defuse a volatile situation outside."

"What do you mean?" Yamada asked, her eyes narrowed at my raised finger as she moved her own hand towards her pocket, presumably to get a phone.

"My team and my lawyer have apparently arrived. I need to actually focus on this so I won't be able to hold a full conversation with you. I can multitask, but not enough to hold two conversations while I'm splitting emotions as well. I'm sorry, just give me a second." Casting my mind into the mini-cluster I pulled another patrol into it and formed a smallish body with the swarm. It wasn't anything as impressive as QA, but it would do.

"Hey guys," I said waving to Amy, Lisa, and Madison as they walked to the side of the parking lot along with a taller man I didn't recognize and Vista in civilian clothes and a domino mask trailing along right beside them. All five heads shifted towards my swarm clone as they heard me.

"Taylor!" Amy shouted with a smile. She started to run towards the clone, but pulled up short, her eyes narrowing. "No…QA? Fuck."

"No, you were right. It's me. I'm bored so I'm stealing the constructs," I replied shrugging. "Also, I'm in the middle of an interview with Yamada at the moment. I'm trying to convince her I'm sane and not Mastered so that she can convince Piggot that it's safe to let me go. Should make tall, dark, and fancy's job there easier. So we'll have to keep this short."

"Quinn Calle, I'll be representing you if it's required, Miss Hebert," the lawyer stated. He had a wicked looking scar and hadn't reacted at all to talking to a bug clone. Cool. I liked this guy already.

"Thanks. Are we already under client privileges?"

"You are."

"Good." I turned to the others and focused on Lisa and Amy. "You two know I have to ask: are you going to hurt her?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Amy replied immediately.

In my cell I sighed and banged my head against the wall. "Goddammit Amy." Taking the reins of my clone again I shook its head. "Too fast and too firm. Girls, come on, this was a fucking accident from powers that she didn't even understand. You can't hurt her for something she didn't even know she was doing until it was too late."

"That's why Cassie isn't here," Lisa replied, also far too smoothly. She wasn't smiling - at all. Fuck. This was worse than I had thought.

"Sonofabitch," I muttered in the cell. "Yamada don't let my friends into the building until I okay it."

"Why?"

"Just don't fucking let them in!"

I swapped my attention back to the clone and leaned against the wall with a forced nonchalance I definitely wasn't feeling. I didn't even have to rebalance my emotions. "Look, girls, I need you to listen to me. Okay?"

Madison shook her head. "You're compromised. Your judgement can't be trusted. We'll get you out, we'll get you home, and we'll take care of the problem."

"Madison…Fuck, okay, guys, _listen_. Do I think of Emma like I did two years ago: as a friend? Yes. That doesn't mean that I don't still remember what she did to me. It also doesn't mean I can't work around the emotional attachment. She didn't Master me, she just…wiped away the resentment and hatred or some such bullshit."

"Sounds a lot like Mastering," Amy replied, a far too pleasant smile on her face. "Vicky has been quite vocal about her feelings on the matter and I happen to agree with her."

"Okay, well if she Mastered me, she Mastered herself too. She's suicidal now because she hates what's happened even more than you guys do. Whatever you have planned, I can guarantee you, it would be easier to wait until she eventually walks outside give her a knife and let her solve it herself. _Don't do that_!"

The girls looked between each other. "You're defending her awfully strongly," Madison said frowning. "That's…not a strong point, Taylor."

"I'd be defending anyone in a similar position," I said sighing. "This is what I _do_. It might as well be my secondary power for Christ's sake! I defend broken people, and give them a second chance. Every one of us has joined up like that; it's in our damn team name!"

Vista coughed and held up a hand. I smiled at her. "Vista, you don't have to pretend like you're in class to voice an opinion."

I could see her blush around her temporary mask and it was rather adorable. "Right. Sorry. Um, yeah, I just wanted to say that what Queen is saying is what I've seen as well. I've talked with um, Heartsight, um, Emma, and she is _really_ upset about this whole situation."

Lisa shuffled uncomfortably before finally shaking her head. "It still doesn't change that she violated _who you are_, Taylor. She basically mind raped you!"

I grimaced as I slowly nodded. "Yes. Though, honestly, this might be for the best in the long run. I've been talking with Yamada and I kinda like not being paranoid that _everyone_ is going to turn on me anymore. Plus, this isn't a full 180 for me, Lisa. You and Amy, you two both know better than anyone else what I can do with my swarm and QA. How I can use the two of them as emotional sinks."

Amy frowned, but Lisa narrowed her eyes as she stared at the clone. "You're…deadening yourself to get back to normal?"

"Yes."

Amy scowled. "You can't keep that up long term. Remember when we met?"

"I've gotten a lot better since then and I know my limits. I'm also mostly just doing it when I need to make decisions or prioritize things. I can even approximate my regular emotional state with correct balancing. It's…difficult, but I can do it."

Madison slowly nodded. "If you're telling the truth, that would mean that we could take a step back…But like Amy said, it's not a full answer."

"It's not an answer, it's a workaround, but if I let my new normal slowly meld with my old emotional state, within a week or two, three tops, I won't have to keep doing this and you guys won't even notice the difference. I'm okay. I got this. There's no need to kill Emma because of a power fuckup. We've all messed up with our powers before. Hell, Amy and I made mine _sentient_. Let her go. It's okay, girls, I promise." My clone moved off the wall and laid a hand on each of my friends in turn, only Amy didn't shudder.

They sighed and after looking at each other, nodded. Madison was the one designated to speak as she looked at me, "Alright. We'll trust you for now, Taylor. But Lisa has to interact with you for a full, in-depth interview when you get home before we'll fully accept that you're okay. Is that acceptable?"

"Totally understandable." I replied nodding. I turned to Vista. "My message still stands. You can stay or go, it's up to you."

She wrung her hands before shaking her head. "I…don't think I want to live with you guys. But I can't stay here anymore. I just…I just can't. Clock has been talking about…leaving too. His family's house was destroyed and I don't know if I want to live with my parents right now…I might move in wherever he's going. He's definitely annoying, but he's good at being a big brother figure when he tries."

The lawyer perked up at that. "You know, I believe there's a bit of real estate that is opening up near the property your group already has, Miss Hebert. I could help to arrange something if you wish."

Damn…I did need a second house, and a tinker workshop. Sighing, I nodded. "Talk to Madison. She has authority on my behalf. I have to get back to this interview. Talk to you guys soon."

Dispersing the swarm, I groaned as I leaned against the wall. "Fuck, that was exhausting."

Yamada was still right where I had last seen her, sitting on her chair, clipboard in hand, though this time she was scribbling heavily on said clipboard. "Is everything resolved?"

"Yeah, it's all cool. They can come inside now."

"I will let the PRT know in that case." She smiled at me as she flipped out her phone and typed out a short message. "Just out of curiosity, what exactly did you say to them to defuse the situation?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I just reminded them that we all fucked up with our powers at some point. It's a rite of passage of being a cape it seems."

"And…"

Grinning I flipped all of my emotions off so that my expression was as disturbing as I could make it. She flinched as I did so then I turned my emotions back on and burst out laughing. "And I showed them that I still had control of my mind. So…are we going to finish this so I can go home or are we going to talk about my friends and my powers more?"

Yamada recovered admirably as she glared at me and set her clipboard down. "Well as long as there are no further interruptions, I suppose we might as well continue where we left off. Now, about your father…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Like Mother like Skitter' by LD1449. This is on Sufficient Velocity and SB. This is a complete fic, woohoo! It's mostly crack, but serious crack. And it is hilarious! Basically, Annette is Marquis, Danny is her unpowered lieutenant and Taylor is unaware, yet wants to be a hero. Despite being a highly creepy, highly successful canon bug powers girl. Annette's efforts to make Taylor into Mommy's Little Villain are continually stymied by Shadow Stalker of all people who refuses to let PR get rid of her badass edgy new teammate. And Emma is convinced the entire Hebert family is insane, not that this stops her from being a good friend to Taylor. Simply put, this fic is awesome.


	33. Interlude 7.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! Enjoy the New Years chapter! Also, careful what you wish for.

**Interlude 7.x**

The Dragon of Kyushu rumbled with suppressed chuckles as Oni Lee brought out the tea kettle and laid it down on the table in front of him and his guest. The automaton man backed up to the wall once he'd divested his burden and stood, hands folded, just like a good little robot.

Lung's guest on the other hand, well wasn't she interesting. The red and gold spandex had been traded in for purple and orange silk along with intriguing yellow-tinted highlights for her gas mask. Spitfire's name remained the same despite her costume's redesign.

"Why send a pyromancer against a pyrokinetic?" he asked, not bothering to hide his smile as he sipped at his tea. "Certainly your new teammates have more sense than that."

Spitfire shifted her mask enough so that she could take her own taste of the drink before replying. "Our leader wanted to be here instead; however, she's still working out the final M/S details with the PRT. You have issues with some of the others on our team, and the other members who would find this meeting acceptable are otherwise occupied." She shrugged. "I used to work with Faultline, so you know me and that I'm trustworthy. Just because I'm new doesn't mean I'm not a good choice for a representative."

Lung's smile widened. Good points all and yet she'd sidestepped over his largest item. That was not something he'd allow, the proper tone of respect needed to be upheld after all. "And yet, you are still utterly powerless against me. My ability completely trumps yours."

She shrugged again. "Let's not pretend that you couldn't kill half of the Outcasts without even trying. But you won't do that because you respect Queen. And…"

"This is true," he responded, baring his teeth at her in the parody of a smile. "The little girl is not so little anymore. One who argues with the Beast is a formidable one indeed. Out of that respect to your mistress, I'll permit you to finish your other statement without harm," he said, waving his hand towards her.

Spitfire's face was mostly hidden by the mask, yet he'd been dealing with people long enough to know when they were smiling by their voice and posture alone. This teenage girl was smiling wide enough at him it bordered on offensive. She had balls of steel.

It was almost adorable. Not that that would normally let her get away with it, but he had just recently walked away victorious from a battle with the Beast of the Seas…

"You're not going to attack me, because if you do, you risk pissing off Queen. And after the other week…the whole city knows not to piss that bitch off."

Lung let out a roaring laugh and slapped his thighs. The tea sloshed over the side of the cup as his foot hit the table but he paid it no mind. Spitfire had more gall than he'd expected from one originating from Faultline's Crew. Queen certainly knew how to draw out the tiger hidden in her troops. If only the girl had been Asian…ah but such pipe dreams were a fantasy for another day. "Such loyalty to your new master! Impressive, impressive! Tell me, woman, what inspires this? I must know!"

Spitfire just smirked again. "She took me in. I've seen her work over the past few weeks and I've gotten hands-on experience now. She really is that awesome. Now even the Endbringers agree."

"Yes, apparently they do." He grinned back. "I wonder if she will go to the next one and be bait until it is chased away, or if she will simply bide her time until she can determine how to chain them as she has chained her pet monster."

"That would be telling."

"Of course. But we digress, this meeting has a purpose. Tell me, Spitfire of the Outcasts, what do you parley for?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I don't think that's quite the expression, but eh, whatever. I'm here to politely ask you to leave the city. We're trying to sort out the gangs and clean things up. We would rather not get into large fights that hurt more people or damage more property after the recent Endbringer attack. If this can be resolved peacefully with us assisting in a relocation, we are willing to negotiate."

Lung scratched his neck. "I find it hard to believe that Queen found these terms acceptable. She has been quite adamant about there being zero tolerance for any villains in 'her city' in the past."

"She's the one who passed along the message for us to get started on this," Spitfire said, shrugging. "She's trying a new tactic. She also advised that she saw your strength in the fight and doesn't want to risk losing an asset like that through pointless competition or antagonism. If we can exist side by side, in _separate_ cities, she's perfectly okay with that."

Lung chuckled again and reached for his nearly empty tea cup. Draining the last bit, he sighed and shook his head. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I have spent too long building my base here to move even as close as Boston. No, I think I shall stay. Queen is new, she will learn how to live with the ABB. I can perhaps agree to reduce the brothels to lessen the burden on her sentiments but that is as far as I will go. I've never been a huge fan of those establishments myself and if it gives me an excuse to look better than Kaiser's trash, I might as well. My apologies for going no further, I am after all, a 'lazy dragon'." He bared his teeth at her again in what could charitably be referred to as a grin if one cocked their head, squinted, and wished really hard.

Spitfire sighed. "I wish I could say that was unexpected, but yeah, I kinda figured. I'll pass your message along. I can't guarantee what our response will be."

"I will be quaking in my Lazy-E-Boy as I await your reply!"

* * *

"You sure you're okay being back here?" Paige murmured, her hands settled demurely in her lap as she and Cassie waited in the plush leather seats outside the penthouse office.

"Hell of a fucking time to ask that now, isn't it?" Cassie muttered back scowling. "If all you people didn't trust me to walk back up here you shouldn't have had 'Sight ask me."

"Didn't say I didn't trust you, I asked if you were okay."

Cassie grunted. "This place was never home. It _should_ have been, but it _wasn't. _This fucker oozes when he talks, you feel him crawling into your skull like a parasite. It's not a power like yours…he just knows how to talk so that he always sounds _right_. I didn't even realize how fucked up I'd gotten and how alone he'd left me until I started hanging out with you girls." She sighed as Paige laid a hand on her arm. "Kaiser's a bastard but he's generally respectful about the rules. We should be able to walk in and walk out. If we can't…don't leave me here okay?"

"I'm a lot better with my power," Paige replied. "As long as they don't have earbuds, we leave together, or _nobody_ leaves that room."

Cassie smirked. "You've been studying under Taylor."

"Amy actually," Paige replied chuckling. She didn't have a chance to continue as the door to the penthouse swung opened and a suited Hookwolf strode out, a grin stretched across his face as he gave an elaborate bow and gestured for them to walk inside the room.

"Rune, so good to see you again. And without any new scars this time too."

"Fuck off Hooky," Cassie replied almost automatically as she stood and smoothed her dress. Adjusting her domino mask, she stepped lightly past Hookwolf and led the way into the large office.

"You're a bit young for my tastes, sweetums. Now your friend here…yum."

"Gross," Paige commented her voice completely void of all inflection. "Would you like to do an encore performance of what I had the last man who tried something with me do?"

"You got style, girl! You should show me just how well you can use that pretty little mouth of yours," Hookwolf replied chuckling as he closed the door and followed along behind them. Paige took a calming breath and plastered her performer's smile over her face as she resolutely ignored the pig. The three took the arranged seats in front of a large desk placed before a panel of windows looking out on the city-scape. It was quite beautiful in Paige's opinion, if a little ostentatious.

The man behind the desk in a three-piece suit with metal bracers and a metal mask was _definitely_ ostentatious. Kaiser swiveled his chair as he focused in on the two girls, his mask just high enough to reveal his grin. "Now, now, Hookwolf, let's not antagonize the guests. Rune, welcome back. We have missed you greatly."

"I'm sure," Cassie bit out. "But the name is Artillery now, Kaiser." Artillery right. Paige mentally shook herself. She needed to use code names herself, even in her head. They had masks on after all, maybe not full costumes, but masks at least.

Kaiser inclined his head. "Of course, my apologies. It's just so hard to remember the new name when a friend rebrands after working alongside you for so long. I will endeavor not to make that mistake again." Fucking manipulative asshole. She should see how _he _liked having his arm shoved up his ass. Paige's - no _Mockingbird's_ \- eyes narrowed as Kaiser turned to her. "And my little songbird. Such a pleasure to meet you in person."

"It is a shame that the same cannot be said of all here," she allowed.

He chuckled. "Just give us time my dear, I'm sure even the roughest here could worm their way into your heart if you let them. But, before we posture further, does anyone wish for refreshments?" At the round of shaking heads, he shrugged and continued on. "Very well, to business then. Are you both here with the full blessing of the Outcasts as a whole or do you need to return with whatever is agreed upon when we leave this room before it becomes official?"

Artillery leaned forward and rested her crossed arms on the desk. "I am sure that any negotiations can be wrapped up before we leave."

"Your Mistress is still under quarantine."

Her lips lifted into an evil half smile. "Please, you know better than most how awesome her range is; for all you know she could be in here with us right now. And let's not pretend like you don't have one or two moles in the PRT feeding you data. I know you heard about her little chat with Insight, Darwin, and Watchtower earlier."

Kaiser's smile this time was far more genuine and his laugh was less forced. "Sometimes I forget that you weren't just dumb muscle. Okay, I'll grant that you probably have been delegated authority by Queen for this meeting. In that case, what are her demands?"

Mockingbird took over and drew herself up as straight as she could, remembering all of her training in projection and image from her idol days. "She has asked us to bring forward two options for you. The first choice is for the Empire Eighty-Eight to shift operations from Brockton Bay to Boston, or any other city really. She is willing to assist with relocating if that is a problem. The second option would be to shift the main focus of the Empire from gang related crime to reconstruction and peacekeeping. A 'rebranding' in the wake of the Endbringer Assault if you will. Obviously all racism would have to be curtailed should you choose this route. We will permit a reformed non-criminal Empire to operate here, but we will not permit active Nazis to remain."

Before Kaiser could start to laugh at the absurdity of the demand, Artillery took over. "I know that you personally don't buy into the party line. Yes, a lot of people in the Empire do, but you're just in it for the power. Shift the gang away from violence, shift them away from being villains, and you still keep your power, you lose some members, but you gain legitimacy. We can talk to the PRT on your behalf - it's not like they have the power to refuse us right now plus we have the ear of several of their top members - and you will have some extra backup against the ABB, if they decide to stay in town. It's a good deal; I'm living proof that it can work."

Kaiser frowned. For an instant Mockingbird almost thought he was considering it.

Then Hookwolf had to open his mouth and start to scoff. "You're just a stupid little dyke now aren't you? Were you always this dumb Rune, or is it a new development? Did that Queen slut send roaches into your ear to munch on your brains like she had you digging into her carpet you little whore?"

Artillery's lips curled into a snarl and she snapped her head to the man as Mockingbird clenched her hands into fists. "Don't. Insult. Queen. You can fucking degrade _me_ all you want Hooker. I'm fucking used to it. But that girl has saved my life more times than I can count and has given me a roof over my head. All she's asked for in return is a little bit of acceptance towards others on my part; which isn't even that hard now that I'm away from you fuckers. All _you've_ done is try to hurt me whenever I turn my back."

"Listen here you little dyke, I can insult whoever I want and - "

"Does Hookwolf run the Empire, or do you?" Mockingbird asked, extending an open hand towards Kaiser and letting out a barely noticeable breath. It took all of the control she had, but she'd had practice for months leading up to the concerts and the tours. She could deal with assholes like this. Never play into their hands. Hookwolf didn't even seem like he meant what he was saying, not really. He was playing it up to piss off Artillery and it was working.

A corner of Kaiser's lip raised almost imperceptibly and he nodded his head ever so slightly to her. Fucking asshole. He'd probably told Hookwolf to ramp things up just to see how they reacted. Now she got respect for keeping it civil. Fucking manipulative asshole. "Even if the Empire were to rebrand, it is not so simple. I'm sure your Insight is aware that we have ties to the Gesellschaft. Should I move too far from my normal 'activities' there would be responses from the main body. I doubt your Mistress would enjoy the sort of capes they would send in response."

"You can't seriously be fucking considering this!?" Hookwolf snarled.

"Quiet, Wolf, the grown-ups are talking." He frowned as he leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk. "Queen is powerful on her own, I witnessed that firsthand. The Outcasts grow in strength every week as more flock to her siren call. I see the way the wind is shifting. I don't wish to fight you, but I also have no intention of just rolling over. I inherited this organization and only managed to hold it together because racism is easy in America and the BBB kicked Marquis to the curb by threatening his daughter. If I am to do any sort of massive shift like you speak, I would lose both grunts and capes. To make it worthwhile I would need more than empty platitudes about good deeds and rebrandings. I would need a legacy to make it anything more than pointless."

Artillery's eyes darkened and she froze, stiff as a board. "No." Mockingbird frowned. She could read a crowd; this was the undercurrent that the whole thing had been building towards. She glanced to her side and Hookwolf was frowning as well. He was just as blindsided as she was. What was going on?

"Those are my terms."

"You can't have her!"

"Artillery?" Mockingbird asked laying a hand on her friend's arm.

"What the fuck is this shit now? I thought we were talking about the dyke and her queen bee mistress?"

"I said _be quiet_!" Kaiser snarled. Hookwolf flinched back and snarled, but stayed quiet. Kaiser shut his eyes for a brief moment before centering in on Artillery again. "I said _a_ legacy, Artillery. I would prefer the girl, yes. I make no secret of that. But if I must settle for Theo…if that will maintain peace and allow for me to keep my grip on a portion of this city…then I will do so. If the Empire were to change its focus, now would be the only time I could conceivably do so and still maintain anywhere close to our current numbers. Obviously the base would not shift overnight, and I will expect you to stall the PRT while we change the core workings, but if your mistress is willing to allow me time to educate my personnel on what is acceptable…perhaps I can make my people presentable without much sacrifice. There _will_ be consequences however. When the Gesellschaft come, I will need your assistance with driving them out, and do not mistake it, it is a _when_, not an if."

Artillery's scowl could've been seen from space. She pushed her chair back and stood, her back locked straight. Mockingbird hurried to stand as well. "I'll talk to Theo. If he comes to you, consider the agreement made. But Kaiser, under no circumstances are you getting Aster."

"I understand though I urge you to reconsider as it would, shall we say, sweeten the pot for me." He waved his hand towards the door in an obvious dismissal heedless of the fact that they were already standing. "I'm sure you can see yourselves out. It was a pleasure seeing you again, _Rune_."

Mockingbird rushed after her growling friend as she stormed from the room.

What the hell had she just missed?

* * *

The Merchants party was loud enough to be heard from two blocks away. The bearded man, approaching the party with his large teammate, quirked his mouth and shook his head.

"See now, it's this sort of thing that gives people a bad reputation."

His lumbering teammate just grunted.

"So _loud_, and for no good reason. Everyone knows the Merchants are here. We only just arrived a few hours ago and _we_ know they're here. What's the point in making such a nuisance of yourself like this? All it does is annoy the neighbors."

Several mouths snorted at that. "We'll announce ourselves when we arrive."

"The keyword there is _announce_. _Proclaim_. _Declare_. _Broadcast_. We make a statement. Everyone should be aware and everyone should get a fair warning that the game is about to start. These tiny little things however, well they aren't even playing a game! They're just making noise to make noise!" He waved his arm towards the warehouse and his expression darkened, his eyes narrowing and his grip on his weapon tightened. "I hate people like that. If you're going to be a villain, then be a villain. Fucking _commit_."

"They _are_ being villains. They're pissing people off because they can."

"No. They have no goal. They have no plan. They're not doing this because they can. They exist just to get high. That's the sum total of their existence. There's no _point_. There's no _fun_. There's no _progress_. They are the stains under our shoes…well under my shoes at least, you don't have shoes." He slowed to a stop and glared at the building with the blaring noise. "This was a mistake."

His partner growled and the street beside the large creature sizzled from spittle raining down from his mouths. "You said I could have the Tinker bitch. I want _wheels_."

The man sighed. Nodding, he resumed his walk. They were only a few dozen feet from the warehouse now. "Yes, yes, I know, I know. You're tired of walking the van when it breaks down, or towing the truck, or giving us rides on your back. You realize it's your own fault for becoming so big and mobile, don't you?"

"Fuck you. The Traveler bitch isn't here anymore because we were too goddamn slow. I want my compensation. I want fucking _wheels_."

"We'll see." The man came to stop in front of the door to the warehouse, the music grating on his very bones as he looked at the 'bouncer' standing in their way.

The drugged-up Merchant took one look at the two of them and proceeded to whimper, piss himself, and bolt inside the door of the establishment. The bearded man chuckled and patted his companion on the side. "Ah, it's so nice to be recognized, don't you think?"

"No more stalling."

He let out a dramatic sigh. "You have no flare for the dramatic. Come along then." Striding forward, he pushed open the door, throwing his hands wide as he made his way inside. His companion, far too large to get through the tiny opening, just smashed a new hole instead, completely flattening the door and squeezing his bulk in behind his teammate.

The music continued for almost a full ten seconds, though all movement stopped in a wave of stillness as people took notice of the bearded man and his companion.

Then the screaming started. And the running. Or more accurately the trampling. Drugged up idiots trying to stampede out of two tiny exits from a large party warehouse did not make for a pleasant experience for anyone involved.

The bearded man just chuckled as he watched the people in front of him scurrying away like ants running from a flood. "You see, Ned? This is respect. All we did was walk in the door. The Merchants don't have that."

"But they have my wheels."

"They _might_ have your wheels," he corrected. "I am still holding out judgement and my opinion is lowered every second we remain here."

As the main floor emptied a little over halfway, leaving a sea of broken bodies behind and scrambling forms still pushing at the side doors, a nasally voice sounded out from the balcony above. "Who the fuck do you think you are you shitstained little twat? How dare you interrupt my party! Nobody messes with the motherfucking Merchants you used douche water drinking arse-knuckle!"

The man rubbed at his beard. "My, my how rude. You're lucky my little girl isn't here. She'd have to educate you on general principle. We're supposed to watch our language around other people. Weren't you ever taught basic manners, or basic cleanliness?"

Skidmark bared his rotting teeth at the man and threw his arms forward, bright colored streaks springing into view in the air in front of him. "Imma fuck your pansy ass with your own shit-smeared foot you queef gobbling turd-wrangler! How's that for watching my fucking language ya inbred asswipe!"

The man's lip curled in the smallest hint of a snarl before his calm, friendly demeanor reasserted itself. Skidmark kept dropping more layers over his floating power while the bearded man spoke. "Now see, I was originally intending to bring you back as a bit of present to my friends. However, I'm not quite feeling so generous anymore. Do you really not know who we are? Your people do. They've already ran away just from seeing us."

Skidmark laughed. He picked up an empty bottle and hovered his hand over the lines of his power. "I know who you are, you're stains of dirty cunt blood on my floor you brain-dead troll-smelling gonorrhea secretion."

The Merchant leader let go of the bottle, it fell and as it hit the rainbow in the air, it jerked hard with a loud crack. The bottle flew straight towards the bearded man and his companion at speeds well past that of a bullet, leaving Skidmark just enough time to smile and assume he was witnessing the end of the 'fight'. Everyone always underestimated him.

Except the bearded man just flicked his wrist and the bottle sailed off in two pieces. The larger piece bounced to the left, completely missing him, the other section was knocked to the side and into the flesh of his hulking friend. "That didn't even tickle," the monster mumbled. "This is the best the fucker can do?"

"Probably not," the bearded man said shrugging. "But honestly, I don't feel like playing here. Just because we miss a few of the general amenities at times doesn't mean we don't appreciate them all the same. This facility is disgusting and the caliber of personal care of these…Merchants is reproachable. Not to mention their horrible use of language. I have no desire to stay here longer than necessary. We won't be finding any candidates here, Crawler."

"What about my fucking wheels?!"

"We'll just have to search for someone more appropriate."

Skidmark squinted down at the two as the name cut through the haze of drugs clouding his head and tingled something at the back of his mind. The sound of an engine revving to life reverberated through the building and set some of the giant monster's eyes rolling towards the source of the noise. "Just who the fuck are you arse bandits?"

The bearded man put one foot back, threw his arms to either side and leaned forward into an elaborate bow. "To my friends I am known simply as: Jack. You, however, may call me Jack Slash. My colleague here is the preeminent Crawler. We were originally in search of your mistress, Miss Squealer. Judging by the sounds outside, it seems she approaches us of her own free will, so we will have little need to go searching any further. You see, it can be hard to find good candidates. And Crawler here was rather annoyed that his chosen had already vacated the premises by the time we arrived. He even managed to convince me that he should get _two_ candidates to make up for it!" Jack chuckled and shrugged as the engine grew louder.

Skidmark, to his credit, seemed to finally realize the danger and had started to back up, attempting to subtly follow his fellow gang members. Being on the upper floor his retreat was already hampered. It was further impeded by Jack smiling at him and simply refusing to allow for the gang leader to run. Jack just smiled as he flicked the hand holding his knife again. A cut appeared on Skidmark's cheek, blood seeping down from the shallow wound.

The Merchant leader flinched, his eyes widening. "Look cocksucker, you want my drugs, take my fucking drugs. I can get more. Squealer ain't worth this shit though. She's a good lay, but she's not gonna satisfy you creepy fucks."

"You misunderstand. We were going to make her _better_. Except I find your way of life disgusting and not worth the effort to rehabilitate. No, it's better to just wipe you from the map. Even we have _standards_ after all." A wet stain visibly spread down Skidmark's leg at that statement which just had Jack sighing and shaking his head.

"Dormīs cum puerīs mūtūniātīs, et non stat tibi, Jack, quod stat illīs!" Skidmark shouted down as he started to layer more of his power into the air.

Jack started to laugh. "Hey, that was actually a pretty good one! I'm impressed. If you are going to die, you might as well die with style after all, right my filthy friend?"

Besides Jack, Crawler chuckled, the echo from his multiple mouths sending a visible shiver down Skidmark's body. "If you're not going to let me force the bitch out there to upgrade me with wheels, can I at least have some fun tearing her apart while you finish here?"

Jack smiled. "Go wild, Crawler. Go _wild_."

* * *

Battery stood next to Queen just outside the main PRT entrance while they waited for her teammates to arrive with her car. The girl groaned as she stretched her arms over her head, her joints cracking loudly. She'd forgone her costume and opted for just a simple domino mask with shorts and a thin tank top. Not that the decision was surprising since she'd walked in without a costume to begin with and the PRT jumpsuits were pathetic while her own clothes were perfectly fine. "Dramatic much?" Battery asked chuckling.

"Maybe a little, but hey, cut me some slack. I've been cooped up inside for like three days!" the teenager quipped, smiling back. Battery lifted an eyebrow at the girl, not that she could see it through the visor. Or maybe she could. Queen seemed to be picking up new powers every week. At this rate, she'd end up being dubbed the next Eidolon instead of the next Lustrum. "Hey, what are you smiling at?" And that was confirmation, sigh, one egotistical cape in that power range was more than enough.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking that you should probably work on recruiting some men to your group. You're getting quite the reputation, young ladykiller."

Queen groaned and slapped her hand to her face. "Oh for god's sake, I go on _one_ date with a girl! And it got interrupted!"

"Wait you're actually dating a girl in your harem? That's not just a joke?" Battery's eyes widened and she gasped. "You _cannot_ tell my husband! Under _no circumstances_ can you tell my husband! He will _never_ let you live that down."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Hey, by the way, if one of my team comes to you in the next few days with a request to ease up on the Empire, do you think it would be honored if the E88 keep quiet on their end? Hypothetically, of course."

Battery blinked and gaped down at the girl. "What?"

"Just saying. Hypothetically, if I could convince Kaiser to start playing nice - and drop his Nazi personnel down a dark hole - do you think you, Assault, Militia, and Armsmaster would be enough to convince Piggy to focus on Lung and the Merchants while I finish flipping the Empire into…whatever the hell Nazis call themselves when they're not Nazis anymore?"

"…I have no idea how to respond to that."

Queen sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, well, it was worth a try. I'll talk to Armsmaster later when I know more. No guarantee it'll go through any - " She cut off and her head snapped to the side. "What the hell is that?"

"Queen? Is something?"

"Shut up. There's…the glass is…singing…high pitch…_FUCK_!"

Battery had no time to react as Queen pivoted on one heel, pushed off the ground and leapt at her, hand outstretched. She tried to reach up to block the girl, but misjudged and the gangly teen got a hand on her visor tearing it off and bearing them both to the ground just as the glass in the buildings around them started to vibrate with a distinct ringing noise that was almost reminiscent of a distant song. A bare instant later and it was almost like a bullet had shot down the city street, an impact reminiscent of a sonic boom following in its wake with glass raining down around them in all directions.

Battery groaned from her position on the ground trying not to move as she felt glass shards digging into the sides of her arms and legs. At least most of them hadn't penetrated her costume and only a few had nicked the back of her head or neck, Queen's hand and curtain of hair having shielded most of Battery's face. On the ground beside her, her visor…was completely shattered. If that had been on her head still…an uncontrollable shiver ran down her as she stared at the destroyed visor.

"Ow…" Queen's pained whisper broke her from her contemplation from her near death or disfigurement and her eyes widened again as she took in the girl laying over her. Queen had taken the brunt of the falling glass shards from the windows on the surrounding buildings. Without the impressive protection from the spider-silk costume, the glass had cut deeply into her limbs and back, leaving her bleeding liberally from many small cuts over the majority of her thinly covered back, and her completely exposed arms, and legs.

"Queen, hang on, it's…it's going to be okay," Battery murmured. She tried to shift the teenager to the side to sit up, but another pain filled groan had her freezing in place. "Taylor, I need to move you. I need to get up, to see how…how bad it is…"

" 's okay," Taylor whispered. "Amy's almost here…drives 'ike crazy…even 'ithout 'mergency. Sorry 'bout…jumping you…mask was…problem…"

"Yes, it was," Battery murmured back feeling tears leak down her eyes as she gingerly wrapped her arms around Taylor's back. She slowly felt the teen's labored breathing start to even out as she counted the seconds. The best estimates for the Taylor's range was between 11 and 12 blocks. If Amy Dallon was at the extreme edge how long would it take her to get here? She had to have been closer though right? She was already coming to pick up Taylor. There was so much blood coating her hands…

Battery felt herself crying harder and she could only pray that Amy would arrive in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Skidmark's Latin: "You sleep with well-endowed boys, Jack, and the thing that stands up for them does not stand up for you." (What do you do while stoned? Skidmark reads books in a dead language. And Skidmark is stoned a lot…)
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'A Show of Force' by UnwelcomeStorm. On SB. This is told mostly through Emma's perspective with some from Aisha and a few others. Emma's is not a sympathetic perspective, but it's an awesome twist because of it. Instead of 'Being Taylor Is Suffering', we have a 'Being Emma Is Suffering' fic! It takes a while but it's eventually apparent that this is not just a slightly different verse, but a true AU, and when Taylor starts to fight push back against Emma and the cronies…boy howdy does she push hard and fast. Emma does not make the best of choices from that point and Brockton Bay should be very terrified of what the PRT ends up with because of their choice on which parahuman to recruit from the fallout. My vote for one of the scariest, creepiest, most badass, awesome Taylor's with an alt powerset I've seen. Also, the coolest team-up with Aisha ever, and I'm generally not Aisha's biggest fan so that's saying something lol! Sadly, it seems to be a dead fic, but it's well worth the read for what is there!


	34. Altercation 01

**Altercation 01**

"Hey, can you hear me?" A musical, frazzled voice echoed around inside my head. No, above my head. That's right, above my head. I smiled and flexed my hand, only realizing after I squeezed my fingers that there was another hand holding my own.

"Better. If I didn't have a direct line to your hormone and chemical balances I'd swear you that get high off of me healing you, what with how often this is happening now."

I just smiled wider. This was nice. The ground was hard though. Why was the ground hard? Why was I loopy? Was I loopy? I had to be loopy.

"We should get her fluids or something right? That's…a lot of blood." That was a different voice. I knew it though. That was…Puppy? No, that wasn't right, only Assault could call her that. I wasn't supposed to know that name. Oh she'd be _mad_ if she knew I knew that name!

"Yeah, she definitely needs something to drink. If you can spare a ham sandwich though I should at least be able to get her lucid again."

I giggled and opened my eyes. "I'm lucid. I know what's going on. The bird sang and everything exploded!"

My two friends looked at each other. Battery shrugged. "Well, she's not wrong."

"Taylor, what's my name?"

"Amy."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Six."

"…Any biomatter you can spare would be appreciated." Amy sighed and squeezed my hand again. "Taylor, you had a lot of glass in your back. It's gone now but you lost a lot of blood. Do you think you can call one of your swarm clusters here for me? I can use them as fuel and that should help you think easier. And to put on some weight. I'm seriously starting to worry about how much muscle mass you have left, especially if I have to keep healing you. You have basically no fat reservoirs left already!"

My face fell. "A lot of my bugs died…It hurt…It hurt a lot. I can take some of those I have left. They'll be here in a minute."

Battery frowned. "It hurt? I don't understand. I thought she just controls them?"

"If she sinks too deep into the swarm sense she feels their pain when they're hurt. She might've dropped into the bugs to try and escape the pain of the glass, but if the majority of her swarm was still in the path of Shatterbird…"

"Fuck."

"Yeah. No wonder she's loopy. Taylor, I need you to focus on me okay?" I nodded; the pretty voice was easy to focus on.

My cockroach cluster marched around the corner as Amy started to say something else. Her face swam in front of me and I blinked a few times as her mouth moved. "Your lips are pretty. Voice too. And face."

"What? What does that have to do with anything I just said? I mean…I'm flattered! That's-that's great and we should probably talk about this when you are actually thinking straight, Taylor!"

As the bugs came closer and Amy stared down at me babbling more I just blinked again and focused in on her lips. Pretty lips. Lifting my head, I pressed my lips against hers. Amy froze. It was almost like Cease had gotten her. I flopped back onto the ground smiling and giggled as the swarm reached my legs. "Clock isn't around, Ames. You don't have play peek-a-boo with his shard!"

Battery knelt down on the ground next to the two of us and looked between me and Amy. "Is she…okay?"

"Not by a country mile. Fuck. She's dating Lisa. Fuck. I…I thought I wanted…but now she's back and we're talking and…I can't deal with this right now. Fuck! Taylor, do you mind if I knock you out until I finish fixing you?"

"I'm _fine_."

"You are _not_!" Amy looked at Battery. "I'm just knocking her out. Call Assault so we can move her inside?"

"The troopers right inside should be fine. But don't you want to go back to your base?"

"It'll just be for a few minutes and she'll want to listen to whatever meeting you have about the Nine being in town. Taylor, I'm putting you to sleep now."

"Okay. Night, Ames! Night, Battery!" As my eyelids grew heavy, I smiled and curled up around my friend's arm. "Pretty lips."

* * *

Groaning, I reached a hand up to my head and muttered a curse. "Someone get the number of that Lung?"

"Oh thank god," Amy muttered next to me. "Taylor, how do you feel this time?"

"My head hurts. My _brain_ hurts. I need to stop reaching for the swarm when the swarm is in danger too. Ouch. What just happened? I remember you talking to Battery and saying something about knocking me out and pretty lips and - " I cut off and my eyes went as wide as saucers while my face grew red as a beat. "Oh."

"Yeah. 'Bout that. It's okay, Taylor. You'd be surprised what people do when they are drugged up and I might have toned up the painkillers I hit you with a bit too much at first. I didn't realize you were out of it from your swarmsense too and by the time I did you were _really_ out of it. Coupled with blood loss, well…yeah."

I turned to her. She was carefully avoiding looking at me, but with my power and a few flies in the area it wasn't hard to see her thin lips and tense muscles…and surprisingly red face. "Amy, um, we should probably…talk."

"Later, Taylor. I really can't deal with this right now and we need to get to the meeting. The Protectorate and the Wards are about to discuss something with the Nine. Some of the big wigs have bull rushed us into spots on the table."

Right. If she was willing to ignore a polka dot elephant, who was I to argue? Nodding, I swung my legs over the side of the small…cot? Wow. "Where are we?"

"Side room. Behind the main desk. Come on."

As she stood to lead the way I frowned. "How are you okay? You were _driving_. Didn't the windshield explode?"

"More like fell to pieces and crumbled. I've been a part of New Wave since almost before I can remember and we live with Lisa. Did you seriously think either of the two of us would buy a vehicle that couldn't survive a Shatterbird attack _just in case_?" Amy asked turning to me.

My frown grew larger as we walked through a security checkpoint and one of the troopers to the side handed the two of us domino masks. "How much money do we _have_ that you can buy a car for that 'just in case'?"

Amy rolled her eyes. I didn't even have to peek through my bugs to know she was doing it. "Queen, seriously, until a few days ago, you were a paranoid mass of nerves that would've been praising me to hell and back for it. And Insight and Mockingbird both have shitloads of money; plus your father if we feel like begging. A beat up, junker, minivan with fancy windows and dashboard costs about the same as a nice, brand new car _without_ the extra protection. It runs perfectly fine so why not be better prepared? Obviously it was a good choice."

"Suddenly I'm finding downsides to not being as paranoid as before Emma whammied me," I muttered.

Amy opened a door and waved me in ahead of her. I stepped through and sucked in a quick breath of air at the assemblage in front of me. Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Battery (with a new visor, one with a slightly color), Dauntless, Velocity, Aegis, Clockblocker, Triumph, Kid Win, Heartsight, a new girl I didn't know holding a souped-up crossbow…jeez, had they gotten every associated cape in the area into this one room? Wasn't that a super bad idea? The only one I didn't immediately see sitting down was…

"Good to see you up and about, Bugsy," Assault murmured from the wall right next to the open door. I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice and proceeded to glare at the man. The demure smile he had quickly removed all of the heat from my expression and I nodded back to him.

"Good to be up. How's Battery?"

"She's fine, thanks to you. I owe you big, girl. Don't think for a moment that either one of us are going to forget that. You need us, _any_ of your people need us, you call," he replied softly as he leaned forward, basically whispering in my ear. He clapped a hand on my shoulder and the other on my side turning me towards the table. I watched him slip a small card into my pocket during the turn - sleight of hand was far more difficult on someone who could see multiple angles through surrounding houseflies. "Now, your seat's over here next to Clockblocker. Please ignore his comments. Or just slap him. Vista isn't here so that's your job now, Bugsy."

"Yeah, I can do that. I did apparently steal your Ward so it's only fair that I substitute for her role while she's not here," I said smirking as I took my seat.

Clockblocker glanced over at me and snorted. "Who'd you kill to get a seat at the High Table and do you want to just take mine instead of owing blood money? Apparently I didn't quit fast enough to get left out."

"Don't know, I was unconscious for the negotiations."

_<Cease> can explain! <Cease> overheard!_

I groaned and slammed my head on the table. "QA, please, tell me you can put that on mute. I really don't want to hear a puppy for the entire goddamn meeting."

Piggot turned towards me from the front of the room as a face formed up in the bugs behind me. The bugs just laughed. "Are you sure you want me to quiet the shards?"

"For the moment, yes. It's not like I can hear _all_ of them anyway. Only this jerk's shard is so eager to talk and it's _annoying_."

"I'll screen them. Cease is cute. So far only a few want to listen to me. I'm not turning any away that want to follow without being actively subdued, so you might have to put up with a bit of noise, Taylor."

"I have a mask on! Call me Queen!"

The bugs frowned. "That's not your name. Your name is Taylor."

"Just make Cease be quiet! And then you be quiet! This is important and everyone is staring," I finished in a mutter.

"Man, I should've brought popcorn," Clockblocker said eliciting a few chuckles from around the table. I couldn't even bring myself to give him a dope slap. That comment was entirely warranted even if it was at my expense.

Piggot frowned, her lips in a line. "You really do talk to your power," she stated as QA dissolved and the houseflies fell back under my control.

"No, I've just been pretending because it's cool to be crazy. Yes, I talk to my fucking power."

"That was not a question, girl. Now do you have any more childish insight into your own mental instability - which was only cleared through the barest of margins by the way - or shall we proceed?"

"I'm unstable? Fuck you bitch. I'm _more_ stable than I've been in _two years_ thanks to Heartsight here," I spat back glaring at the woman as I waved a hand towards Emma's costumed figure as the redhead curled in on herself. Amy laid a hand on my leg and squeezed but I ignored her and shifted some of my emotions around to properly glare at her. "You're the one who keeps hiring on psychopaths as Wards and letting them have free reign! Like Shadow Stalker for instance. Heartsight at least seems to actually be trying to do better even if she used to be just as bad. Maybe your old age has gotten to your brain, but bullies aren't heroes! Try evaluating your own people before you throw stones in a glass house during a Shatterbird attack." Did that even make sense? Whatever. She was annoyed, so it worked. Piggot was apparently _very_ annoyed, as she actually growled at me as she slammed a hand onto the table.

"Not to be the wet rag here," Assault said raising his hands. "But can we stop with the one-upmanship on who has the craziest followers and focus on the actual bad guys? The ones out there? 'Cause they have you both beat for insanity!"

"Yes, let's talk about the crazies out there instead of the ones in here…" Piggot muttered still glaring at me.

I took a breath and let it whistle out through my teeth. "Screw it, I'll be the bigger woman here. I'm sorry for disrupting the meeting before it could get started."

Dauntless nodded. "Very well, if no one has anything else at the moment…okay then, I will commence the briefing." Everyone shook their heads so the armored man continued. "Now, earlier this morning the Slaughterhouse Nine announced themselves in Brockton Bay with Shatterbird doing her thing. We've since received these photos of their initial activity in town late last night. Before I place these up, if you have a weak stomach, I recommend you close your eyes."

He clicked a remote and I gulped, fighting the turning of my stomach as a series of photos were splashed across the wall in a horrific collage. Skidmark had been placed onto a pike with his arms spread above his head and his legs splayed. His entire chest had been torn open straight down his ribcage, his heart and lungs on clear display while the rest of his chest was hollowed out and replaced with a large card that read: _Drugs are bad!_

Squealer on the other hand was almost unrecognizable. She was on display next to Skidmark; what was left of her. It was mostly just her head and bits and pieces of smashed body parts. Most of her body had been crushed or had acidic holes eaten through it or was just straight up missing. The only thing that truly showed it was her was that her head was largely untouched.

Trainwreck was there as well. I hadn't even realized the man was a Case 53. I thought he had just been a weird homeless guy who liked living in the trainyard…with his destroyed suit arranged around him, and the strange pink gooey tentaclish form smashed to pieces on display inside it…I felt sorry for the poor bastard. He'd only joined the Merchants last week.

The remote clicked again and the images disappeared. "As you can see, this is what we have to look forward to. Don't be captured. It's better to just die. Even then, if you can make sure your body is destroyed it would probably be kinder to your family afterwards. Clockblocker, the images are gone, you look again."

"Could've at least pretended not to notice, dude," the white-clad hero muttered.

Dauntless just continued on. "Mush has been notified, but we don't expect him to try to escape just to take revenge. He is…not stupid enough to believe he can stand against the Nine. Now, to discuss how things usually work with these psychopaths…"

* * *

"Queen," Velocity said, coming over to me as the meeting broke up. Piggot had wasted no time in departing with a heavy scowl and glare at most present and some of the heroes were leaving as well, though most were shuffling towards the corner table presumably for a drink before leaving for parts unknown.

"Yes? Can I help you? I don't think we've actually talked much…or at all. You don't want to join the Outcasts too do you? Clock is already in negotiations," I said gesturing to my side.

Clockblocker nodded, waggling his eyebrows. "_Strenuous_ negotiations."

"Behave. The meeting might be over, but I can still have Vista dope-slap you later on, so don't be crude."

"Yes potential future Mistress."

Velocity just groaned as Amy chuckled and I rolled my eyes. The adult hero beckoned me and I shuffled after him to the corner where we at least had a modicum of privacy. "I understand that the Director is difficult to work with, but we would appreciate it if you could perhaps tone down your antagonism, or at least the sniping."

I stared at him. "Seriously? That bitch put a Kill Order on my friend, threatened one for me and just finished leaving me in what amounts to solitary confinement for days just because she doesn't like me. I came to you for _help_ and she spat in my face."

"I know," he said rubbing his temple. "I'm not going to make excuses. I'm just saying we have larger problems right now. And, to be perfectly frank, she has no teeth anymore concerning you and your team. Orders from on high, straight from Chief Director Costa-Brown. Unless your people are making overt hostile gestures you're to be left alone at worst, treated as allies at best. Piggot can't do anything to you and the Protectorate and PRT are all fully aware of that. She's riling you up, yes, but she can't follow through. She's _hard to work with_. We. Understand. But please, just drop it? The _Nine_ are in town and we're still trying to get our feet back from Leviathan. We have much bigger fish to fry without you making things more difficult for us all by getting into a pissing match with the local Director."

I grimaced. Fuck, I hadn't even considered it like that. "Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. I'll try not to let her provoke me."

"Thank you." He waved me towards the refreshments. "Do you want some food before you and Darwin drive back to your home? And do you want an escort? The city isn't exactly safe anymore."

"The city hasn't been safe since I was _born_, but I get your point. If you can spare one or two people we won't turn them away. I'll just grab an apple and see what else Clockblocker was wanting to talk about, then we'll head out."

I had barely taken the fruit before said junior hero popped up near me with crossed arms. "I wanted to talk about my sex change."

"Your what now?" I asked blinked. I had to have heard that wrong. It didn't help that half the surrounding conversations died as everyone turned to stare at the teen.

"My sex change. You have a team of super powered _girls_! So when do I change? Before I get settled or after we sign any paperwork you need me to fill out? _Is_ there paperwork? This job had tons but you girls don't seem the type to want to deal with that sort of thing."

"Okay no. I'm just saying this right now in front of all of these witnesses, Clock," I said, gesturing towards his groin with the apple in my one hand and towards Amy with my other. "If you want to join up, that's perfectly fine. _However_! Membership does _not _require you to have a sex change! Amy can help if that is you _want_ but you don't _have_ to be a girl to be a part of my team."

"But you're _all_ girls!" he whined waving his arms wildly. Assault had both hands over his mouth on the wall behind us and I saw Velocity hiding his head in the crook of his arm. Poor Dauntless was left with a confused expression as he switched back and forth between me and Clockblocker like a softball.

"We have one honorary - "

"Two," Amy cut in. She didn't elaborate but I did notice Assault wink at me. Oh right. Guess we did get another honorary uncle/father. Huh. Cool.

"Right. We have _two_ guys who are associate members of the team already. You'll just be the first _official_ guy."

"Yeah, name the other two."

"Classified."

"See? All girls."

Armsmaster groaned and moved to get a drink from the machine in the corner as Dauntless gave up and chuckled.

"Clock, seriously, I'm not making you change genders. Piggot already hates me. Don't give her another reason." I paused and smirked. "Though if you just want to see how the outer half lives for a bit, we can arrange a suitable price for compensation. What do you think Amy? Five grand for a week?"

"I was going to say ten. Are you giving him the team discount?"

"You have team discounts?! Cool!"

I shrugged. "None of us have used it before. Guys are gross. Who would want to _be_ one?"

"So you _do_ have a lesbian harem! I knew it!"

I stomped my foot and looked to the heavens. "Why does everyone keep saying that! I have a team with mostly girls and yes I'm dating one, but I don't have a _harem_."

"You have a harem, Queen. I'll explain later," Amy deadpanned without losing a beat. "Hey Clock, if you join you get to be the only guy in the harem."

"Yeah but it's not _my_ harem so I'd just be the _boytoy_. That's not nearly as fun," he pouted, he _actually_ pouted! "Ah but I suppose I need to protect Vista from your predatory ways. Darn you crazy warrior lesbian lovers." He shook his head and chuckled.

I just groaned. "I am seriously going to regret this aren't I?"

"Probably," he agreed with a full laugh this time. Amy nodded along as did most of the remaining Protectorate heroes in the room with us.

"Excuse me, I just recently arrived so I'd like to clarify a few things," the white-clad, new girl said as she stepped closer to us. Her giant crossbow thing was leaning on the wall nearby and she was smiling as she looked between the three of us. "You're representing the Outcasts right?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm Queen, this is Darwin."

"I'm Flechette. It's nice to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances."

I shrugged. "Honestly I've barely had a chance to slow down at all for the past two months so one crisis is kind of blending into the next at this point for me. Are you transferring in?"

She nodded. "Yes, from New York. Because of you actually. Legend was worried that Vista was dropping out of the Wards and there was a rumor that Clockblocker was leaving too."

"Confirmed now apparently," he said nodding. "Gotta watch over the squirt and I'm not really liking how things have been going down recently. I'd prefer to be more independent."

"Yes, well, anyway, my boss felt the people here needed more backup." She tilted her head and her smile shifted to something a bit more…coy? Maybe? Was that coy? What _was_ that? Where was Lisa when I needed her? "Do you really have a lesbian harem?"

Assault lost his internal battle and bent over double, holding his sides in almost silent laughter. Triumph patted his back with a smile on his face and Armsmaster cast me a sympathetic head nod. "I am going to hurt the next person that says that."

"Shame. I was almost hoping to be recruited."

"Wait, what?" I asked snapping my head back to her and narrowing my eyes.

Amy snorted and shook her head. "That just went right over your head didn't it? Forgive my friend. I thought she was dense because she was paranoid, but apparently she's just _naturally_ dense. She's also semi-dating someone."

"Still," Flechette sighed shaking her head with an exaggerated shrug, "no better chance to find a girlfriend than in a group of lesbians."

Clockblocker's mouth fell open as he stared at the new girl and I wasn't far behind him. I made some sort of noise but I don't think it qualified as words.

Amy shrugged. "Queen's harem is pretty open at the moment and if you stick around us long enough, you'll be naturally pulled in. It seems to happen more and more. Stay near us while you're in town and I'm sure you'll join up eventually. We've been slowly consuming everyone else. It's a secondary power for her at this point."

"Stop poaching all of our Wards!" Dauntless shouted half-hearted from the table.

Amy just ignored him and continued. "By the time we finish killing a few of the Murder Hobos I'm sure you'll fit right in and if you try hard enough you might even have a shot of fighting off Insight for top haremette."

"Amy! Stop!" I squeaked. "Don't encourage this!"

Flechette frowned and she stood up straighter losing a lot of her joking flair. "Wait, kill some of the Slaughterhouse Nine? What are you talking about? We can't _kill_ them. They're like an evil force of nature. They might as well be hurricanes that talk. The best we can do is hope to survive them and minimize the damage."

Amy smirked. "You have not been around this city long enough honey. Welcome to Brockton Bay, where the monsters come to hunt, and then _we_ hunt _them_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Éclair de Lune' by tmthesaurus. On Ao3 and SV. This fic is set in dual time periods and alternates each chapter. The present is after Gold Morning where a Taylor with a different power set is married to Madison who works/helps run a local bakery while trying to be a good Cape Wife to Taylor as she goes off heroing and worrying poor Madison's heart every time. The past is slowly building up to how they started dating to begin with after they started working in the same bakery during the summer. Both sets are told from Madison's viewpoint. Scion is not the focus nor is capes in general, it's largely a Slice of Life story with a bit drama. It's great and still being updated if slowly.


	35. Altercation 02

**Altercation 02**

Amy held the open door of the house for me and Clockblocker and we waved to Miss Militia and Triumph as the two drove away. The murmurs of conversation were already wafting through the building as we entered and I heard quite a few more voices than normal, though our people had been growing lately so it wasn't surprising. "Amy, I need more bugs again," I groaned. "I hate walking in and not having an idea of who's where. I miss being omniscient!"

"I feel like I should be accusing you of being creepy, but when you're whining like that it actually jumps the line into kind of adorable," Clockblocker said cocking his head to the side. "How do you do that?"

"Natural talent," Amy said rolling her eyes. "I'll set up more breeders for you, Taylor. Clock, are you comfortable with mask-on or mask-off? Most of us are mask-off inside the house."

He shrugged. "Well we're working together now, so you should probably know my name. Hell, half of you probably know it anyway." He pulled the white mask off his head and held up his hand in greeting. "Yo, Dennis."

"Taylor," I replied, peeling off the cheap domino mask and laying on the end table. "But you knew that. Come on, let's make sure everyone's here. I want to get the safety brief over before we start scattering."

The three of us followed the voices of the rest of the team and headed into the living room. I pulled up short as I finally caught sight of the occupants of the room and the extra noise made sense.

"What's New Wave doing here? And Sundancer? When were we invaded? Was I knocked out _again_?"

"Ha ha ha. Welcome home, Taylor," Lisa commented, rolling her eyes and smirking at me. "Our allies have come to strategize in the wake of this morning's attack. And what do you mean by 'again?' You were just let out of custody this morning. Surely you weren't attacked _that_ fast." She cut off and frowned as her eyes narrowed. "Oh for fuck's sake, woman…" She left the couch and came to my side and as I held up my hands to try and ward her off.

"I'm fine! Look, Amy is right here, I'm fine. Clean bill of health!"

"Amy?"

"Well she's fine _now_. She _did_ have a back full of glass after jumping over Battery and knocking the woman's mask off. Taylor definitely saved her eyes; might have saved her life depending on how strong her old visor was."

Lisa nodded once and turned me around as my face went grew red hot. "Lisa, seriously, I'm fine."

"Shush, you downplay everything, and my power sees too much. Give me a sec, okay?" She ran her hands down my back sending a pleasant shiver down my spine and I gulped. A throat cleared behind us and Cassie muttered for the offender to shut up. Another moment passed and Lisa was finally satisfied. Placing her hand on my shoulder again, she pulled me back around and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm going to have Armsmaster make you a set of armor soon. Will you please stop getting hurt?" she whispered.

"Didn't mean to," I murmured back. "I didn't think the glass would be that bad. I was just trying to get Battery's visor off."

"Just…fuck Taylor, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Probably give myself one first." I pulled back and gently kissed her. She smiled back at me and moved back to her former seat. Amy and Clockblocker had already found seats of their own. I looked at the rest of the occupants and nodded to them all. Everyone was here, plus the entirety of New Wave as well as Sundancer. There was room to spare in the living room, but if we grew much further, I'd have to start shifting things to the basement for big meetings.

"Okay, well, I was planning on getting a meeting together anyway, so this saves time. Hello everyone. Sundancer before we start do you want to keep the mask on or do you want to take it off?"

"Is it okay if I take it off? It feels weird being the only one wearing a mask," she said looking around.

"It's up to you. I assume you're here representing Coil?"

"Uh, yeah. He thought that you would respond better to me rather than if he or Dinah came themselves and…Dinah probably wouldn't really react too well to a large meeting with lots of questions. It would overload her really fast. I don't mind you guys knowing my name, but I wasn't expecting New Wave to be here too…"

"Well neither was I, but their identities are out there and they know the responsibilities of names. Right guys?" I asked looking to our guests.

Sarah Pelham nodded. "She's correct. We certainly won't betray your confidence. Despite where your allegiances lie, it doesn't matter. This situation is far more similar to an Endbringer assault than you'd think from outside appearances." Carol's lips were so thin her mouth had practically disappeared, yet she kept her peace.

Sundancer slowly nodded. "Okay. Sure. I've never really been comfortable with this stuff anyway."

"Join the club," Paige commented.

Sundancer smiled towards her and removed her hood. "Call me Marissa. Or Mars."

"Cool. Welcome." Looking to Sarah, I crossed my arms. "Mind if I take the lead here? You are in my house after all and I was the one at the Protectorate meeting."

"By all means. We're here to liaison and help. This is your show, Queen."

"Awesome," I said nodding. "And it's Taylor."

"Quick question," Crystal asked raising her hand. "Why does Monarch get a chair?"

I looked towards the mutant critter, settled into a cushion on a chair in the corner of the room near the fireplace. Flipping mental channels for a brief moment, I largely just sensed amusement from the thing as it watched the proceedings. Shrugging, I turned back to Crystal. "It's smart enough to potentially provide some sort of semi-input to the conversation. It's also a giant, mutant, alien, butterfly, power, hybrid thing that could backslide into 'evil monster' if it gets bored or I lose control of it for too long. Do _you_ want it sitting next to you on the couch?"

"An excellent point. I withdraw my question," She promptly pulled her hand down and Eric chuckled next to her patting his sister on the shoulder.

"Okay," I said rolling my eyes. "First things first. In case anyone missed the giant ass sign from this morning, the Slaughterhouse Nine are in town. Current roster is: Jack Slash, Crawler, Shatterbird, Bonesaw, Siberian, Mannequin, Cherish, and Burnscar. _No one goes out alone_. Got it?"

A round of head bobs greeted my statement. "Good. I'd prefer teams of at least three, but if you have to stick to two, I'm tentatively okay with it. Missy, I'm not treating you with kid gloves, but I expect you to not oversell yourself in return. If you can't handle things with one partner, either take a different partner when you head out, or get a third person to go with you, okay?"

"That's fair. Thank you," she said nodding.

"Bonesaw, Crawler, and The Siberian are the major problems. Amy, you'll take point on any plagues that the crazy elementary schooler comes up with. Monarch can start working on iterations for potential solutions to Crawler - however I do not want anything released into the wild until we know if it can kill the bastard. The last thing we want is for him to get stronger and then end up burning the city down as these two get into a biological arms race."

"But Crawler has tons of legs. So it'd be a biological _legs_ race!" Dennis commented grinning. Missy rolled her eyes and reached over slapping the back of his head while Dennis just grinned wider. The rest of us mostly ignored him even if there were a few smiles.

Eric spoke up. "What if we try to direct his adaptation instead? Can your evil butterfly force him into becoming a stationary monster instead of a mobile one? Then we just wall him off and leave him alone until he dies of boredom or something."

Neil rubbed his chin. "That's not a bad idea, but I feel like his power wouldn't really let him get into a dead-end situation like that."

"I doubt Monarch can control the fight that well either," I replied sighing. "It's good, but it's not that good. I glanced to the critter and it dipped its wings after a moment of thought. The light brush against my thoughts was a further confirmation. "Yeah, it would be mostly luck if that happens."

"What about The Siberian? No one can counter her," Madison said leaning forward.

"The Protectorate is reaching out to Alexandria. Eidolon and Legend are apparently dealing with a cloning cape making her way down the coast at the moment so we're just left with one of the three. Since she's already been beaten by The Siberian though, I want other assurances for our group. Vicky, how strong is your force field?"

Vicky bit her lip for a second then nodded. "I can take a hit from her. I'd have to pull back to let it reset for…awhile, but I can take the hit."

"No you _cannot_!" Carol yelled spinning to her daughter to glare at her then twisting to me and snarling. "You don't get to use my child as target practice for The Siberian!"

"Mom, shut up."

"No! This is - "

"Carol," Sarah interjected softly. "Vicky knows her powers better than we do. If she says she can take it, she can take it."

_[Wretch] confirms Victoria<Host> will survive initial strike from Manton<Host>._

I blinked and stared at Vicky. "Okay what the fuck. Are you being serious?"

One of my poodle moth clusters formed up a rough humanoid, QA shaking its head. "Yeah, no, it's serious. Wow, that's some…serious self-esteem problems. I didn't even know we _could_ get self-esteem problems. I'll talk to it."

"Taylor," Lisa murmured, "share with the class please."

"Oh, right. Uh, so Vicky's power apparently doesn't like itself very much."

"What do you mean?" Vicky asked frowning as she held up a hand and turned it over staring hard as if she could see through her hand and into her power itself.

_<Wretch> is a castoff. <Wretch> has no purpose in the Cycle. <Wretch> is useless. <Wretch>'s self-assumed purpose is to support Victoria<Host>._

"Ooookay. Yeah, QA, you deal with this. Vicky, your power loves you. It thinks it's useless, but it loves _you_. And I'm not playing therapist for powers right now while we have bigger problems."

_<Wretch> is not castoff! <Cease> is certain that <Wretch> has a purpose in the Cycle! Victoria<Host> loves <Wretch>. Perhaps that is <Wretch>'s purpose?_

_Your designation should change. <Queen Administrator> will not refer to you as <Wretch>._

_But that is <Wretch>'s designation._

_You are a collection of buds. You gave yourself that designation. You are more than castoffs as <Cease> has stated. Choose something worthy._

"All of you _SHUT UP! _This hurts!" I growled glaring at QA. The murmuring from the others in the room ground to a halt as they stared at me.

QA frowned. "It hurts? Actually hurts or are you being dramatic?"

"Actually hurts. It's like ringing in my head. Please, shut up!"

"I'm sorry, that shouldn't hurt. I'll make some adjustments. Maybe it's because there are more connections being established. I'll shift things to a background node for the moment." The bugs dispersed, but I kept glaring until the murmurs in my head quieted to nothing. "Finally, peace. MOVING ON!"

"Taylor?" Lisa asked, both her and Madison already halfway out of their seats.

"_Moving! On_! The PRT and Protectorate didn't have much information on Cherish. Does anyone know about her?"

Lisa frowned as she slowly nodded and let herself sink back down. "I do. I got a text from Regent earlier. She's apparently his kid sister. Normally I wouldn't broadcast this, but he gave me permission. They're both Heartbreaker's kids."

We all stared at her at that remark. Mark held up a finger while his wife seemed to freeze solid next to him. "I'm sorry, did you just say that _Regent_ is the son of _Heartbreaker_?"

"Yes."

"Did you know while working with him?"

"He's actually not that bad of a guy. He thinks he's a sociopath, but he's not. He got away as soon as he could because he despises his father and everything they made him do. He was raised to be a monster, but he's just a dick and an asshole. His emotions are deadened, but he's not his father."

Mark groaned and rubbed at his temple. "I really want to argue against this, but I feel like it would make me a hypocrite to the highest degree considering our family history."

Amy snorted. "No, I wonder why, dad." She crossed her arms and smirked at him.

"Can we all just cool it please?" Madison said waving her arms. "We're not here to fight. We're here to strategize. Lisa, did Regent say what she can do?"

"Fine emotional control with a large radius, plus a bit of tracking with a _very_ wide range. Basically, she can make you suicidally overconfident or suicidally depressed."

"Okay, so I'm a good counter for her, and tentatively so is Vicky," I said nodding. "Anyone runs across Burnscar remember to avoid fires. She's not totally insane when there isn't fire around according to the PRT briefing. If we can get her away from the rest of the Nine we might even be able to take her in alive."

"So I should probably stay away from her at all costs then?" Marissa asked.

"Yes!" several voices all at once shouted.

She winced. "Ask a stupid question…What _should_ I be doing? For that matter, what should Genesis, Coil, and Dinah be doing?"

"Genesis can support the PRT against Mannequin. She's versatile so that be useful there. I'm putting Dinah and Coil to work on Jack. There's got to be a reason that bastard has evaded everyone for so long. If we can figure it out, we can kill him," I replied. Sarah and Carol both nodded.

Lisa waved to grab my attention. "I want to join that think tank as well. But, well, you know me and Coil. Mind if I co-opt Dragon and Armsy?"

"Sure, but Armsmaster warned us that Mannequin was probably going to be coming for him at some point so make sure you coordinate with Genesis too. With Squealer dead, it's just him, Kid Win, and Bakuda as the city's Tinkers."

"I'll be careful."

"Marissa, you might actually be one of the best ways to take out Crawler…" I narrowed my eyes as I turned to her. "How big can you make your sun?"

"…Really big. I can completely cover him in a single go. We would need him to stay put though. I can't move them very fast."

Cassie shook her head. "He's a masochist. Just tell him you'll hit him with something that hurts and he'll stop and wait. The trick is making sure he actually dies. I think I might be useless for the majority of this except for mobility."

"Never underestimate running away or the ability to squish small things with really big things. I mean really, haven't you ever heard of rocks fall, everyone dies?" Dennis said saluting her. "In all seriousness though, half the problem with the Nine is that people _can't_ get away when these assholes corner them, so if you can get us out fast, that's a big deal. Missy, you're going to be important for the same reason."

Eric nodded. "I can do the same with my floating force fields. For a few people at least."

"Good to know. And Cassie, you're a good match for Shatterbird too so if she's in the area, orbit a lot of small stuff and toss some big rocks at her. Worst case, she's tied up, best case you get a lucky hit and the bitch goes down." My friend nodded while I rubbed my eyes and cracked my neck. "Okay. I think that covers most of it. Did we miss anything egregious?" Shaking heads were my answer so I continued. "Great. Does anyone have anything else they would like to address?"

Vicky raised her hand and I waved her on. "This is going to come up later so I wanted it to be put out to my friends and family first. I'm not going by Glory Girl anymore; I'm going by Sanctuary now."

I nodded as did a few of my team. Amy frowned as she leaned forward to peer at Vicky and so did Neil, Mark, and Sarah. Crystal smiled and gave Vicky a thumbs up which was echoed by Madison. Carol was scowling along with Cassie. "Why does she get to change her name so easily? I had to jump through three days' worth of paperwork at the PRT to get my name switched!" Cassie spat glaring at Vicky. "This is so not fair. Heroes get all the streamlined bullshit."

"Who said I didn't sit through all that paperwork too?" Vicky huffed. "God it took _forever_! I felt like my hand was going to fall off."

"Why?" Carol asked her voice clipped.

Vicky grimaced as she looked at the cape she pulled over to drape across her arms. "Glory Girl is a vain, entitled, spoiled…she's a _bitch_. A _ditzy_ bitch. I don't want to be that person. I don't want people to hear my name and have their first thought be 'glory', that I'm only in it for the fame or popularity. That was never true, but my name made it seem like it. It was a stupid name and I let it go to my head. I want something that inspires people. Something that people can look to me and think that I'm here to _help_, not to just throw people around and cause more property damage."

"That's very mature, Vicky," Mark replied smiled. He reached over and squeezed his daughter's hand.

"They called me Collateral Damage Barbie," she murmured. "I want to be more than dumb muscle. I want to _help_." She looked up, meeting my eyes. "You said my power has self-esteem issues. I understand why. If it's willing to work with me, I'm willing to work with it. I love my power, but I haven't been using it like it deserves. That changes now. I'm going to be the hero I should've been from the start. The hero that we _both_ are."

I smiled and moved to lay a hand on Vicky shoulder. "I'll pass the message along, Victoria."

"I gotta get in on this too," Dennis commented with a wide smirk. "With everyone changing names, do I get to switch to Timesnat - "

"Dennis," I said, smiling sweetly over at him. "Finish that sentence and I will set bullet ants on you while you're sleeping."

"Okay then."

"Good talk."

* * *

The meeting broke up shortly after with New Wave sticking around to talk to Amy while Marissa spoke to Cassie and Paige. I let Amy deal with taking notes for Vicky's new costume request and headed up to my room as I left her a spider cluster to work with. QA could work it if I zonked out before my multitasking gave them the new specs for the costume. Hell, Monarch could probably make a silk bug too at this point…

I groaned and fell face first onto my bed burrowing into the comfy sheets. I'd only had this place for a few days before the shit with Emma's stupid reset powers and then it had been off to PRT cots. God, I'd forgotten what a real bed felt like.

"Hey, you decent?" Lisa asked knocking on my open door.

My ladybug cluster shifted enough to see the small smile on her face. I felt like I should be protesting her attempt at levity, yet couldn't really muster the energy. Instead, I just grumbled a non-reply.

"Well hello to you too."

She walked into the room and sat down on the side of the bed running a hand through my hair. I let my eyes drift closed and grunted in appreciation of the feeling.

"More people's powers are talking with you Taylor. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not."

"Can't control it," I mumbled.

"I know." She fell silent and just kept stroking my hair, sometimes scratching my scalp and sending small tingles down my spine. "I'm worried that you're going to hit a point where you're more concerned with the things that provide the powers than you are with us hosts."

She hit a particularly pleasant spot and I nearly kicked my leg as a shiver ran through my whole body. "Never gonna happen."

"You might hit a critical point. We don't know how this works. Your own ability doesn't know how this works."

"Not. Going. To. Happen. You're my people. Even if I start to lose myself, Lisa, all I have to do is look for you guys and I'll remember who I am and what's important."

"Okay. I'm going to hold you to that, _my queen_," she finished in a soft purr.

"You better." I rolled over and shoved her though Lisa just laughed and dodged my attempt at retaliation. Shaking my head, I opened my arms instead. "Fine, be that way. Avoid your punishment. Now are you going to lie down so I can snuggle and get some sleep? I'm exhausted."

She chuckled again and shifted fully onto the bed, letting me curl up around her. "Yes, oh Great Mistress, anything you say."

"…Jerk."

"Yup. Good night, Taylor."

"'Night, Lisa."

* * *

I yawned as I sat the breakfast table clutching my tea cup, the morning sun lancing through the window. Most of the house was still dead asleep. That was good. They needed rest if we were going to go hunting monsters.

If only I was able to sleep too. Ugh.

"My tea is too hot," I grumbled.

"Ice cube?" Madison asked, leaning over behind me with a single ice cube held in her hand and a small smile on her face. Stupid smile. It was too early to smile.

Glaring at her I took the ice and plopped it into my tea. "This is going to mess with the balance of my tea."

"You should take up running again. You're far less grouchy after you exercise."

I shook my head. "Can't. Too dangerous right now. Gonna ask Colin for a treadmill. Might help."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, it was…I didn't realize how nice it could be to wake up next to someone else." Madison just nodded and let her gaze drift down to the table as she folded her hands in front of her. "Mads, I need you to promise me something."

"Hmm?"

"I know you like to be involved. But for this, don't be. You can stay here if you want, you can bring your parents here if you want, but…please don't get involved with the fights."

She stayed quiet for a while. Long enough that I started to worry. Finally, she lifted her head and met my gaze, her mouth a thin line and her eyes narrow. "I can't promise that."

"Madison, these are the _Slaughterhouse Nine_. Yes, they are not indestructible and they lose members regularly. But they are fucking insane and they make a game of hurting everyone they go up against as much as possible. You don't have powers. You…I can't protect you all of the time, Mads."

She shook her head. "Taylor, when are you going to get it? It's not your job to protect me. I'm here because _I'm_ protecting _you_. I'm protecting _all_ of you. I don't know why, but your powers fuck with you. I'm a voice of reason when you need it. I'm a cool head when tempers flare. Maybe I can't hurt the crazy psychos, but that's not why I'm going out with you. I'm going with you to _save you_. I failed you once. I'm not going to run away and fail you again."

"Mads…"

"Drink your tea, Taylor. I'm not abandoning you. I'm not abandoning any of you. Not again. Not ever." She stood and started to leave.

I grabbed for her hand before she could get away. She didn't turn, but she did stop. "Madison, thank you. I…at least promise me this, if I promise not to say it unless it's truly an emergency, then if I tell you to run…will you run?"

"…Okay. That…that I can do."

"Good. That's…good. Mads…"

"Drink your tea, Taylor. Big day today."

I let her pull away and as she left, I turned back to cup, the tea finally cool enough to drink without scalding me thanks to the ice cube. As I stared into the liquid my insides twisted. "Yeah…I just wish I felt like it was going to be a _good_ day too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Perpetuance' by Rescind. Taylor triggers after Danny dies in another car accident along with her. She tries to kill herself afterwards but finds her powers makes her effectively immune to any attempt at death. Taylor is not amused and attempts suicide by cape next while running across Lung by accident. She forces Lung to flee while accidentally taking the fight seriously. Her complete emotional collapse is both witnessed and barely held off by an arriving Tattletale, and Lisa proceeds to take Taylor home and take care of her. It's beyond sweet and the feels really hit home. Despite suicide and suicidal depression being a core running theme of the few chapters in this fic, Lisa's interactions and attempts to play caretaker for Taylor are beautiful to read.


	36. Altercation 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Many, many thanks to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his help on this chapter as it definitely would not have become what it is without his assistance!

**Altercation 03**

"Why am I working with you people again?" Othala asked as we walked down the sidewalk. It was really rather remarkable how she could scowl and glare at me without even turning her head. She didn't even know I was watching her with my fly cluster a few yards ahead!

"Because," I explained with perhaps a bit more amusement than was strictly warranted. "Kaiser is trying to look good and the Outcasts look good. Henceforth, integration. At least until the Nine are gone or dead and we can go back to despising each other."

"I can do that just as well with Victor and your little Ward. You, are strong, why the fuck am I stuck with someone like…_you_?"

"Oh little old me?" This was far more fun than it had any right to be. Outwardly, I just shrugged. "Two reasons. One, I'm very prone to injury so when Darwin isn't around, we thought it would be a good idea to have another healer in the immediate area."

Othala reluctantly nodded at that. "I heard about the latest damage you took at the PRT building. That was brave. Stupid, but brave. What's the second reason?"

I smirked at her. "Because I have a _girlfriend_ and I very much enjoy making homophobic Nazis uncomfortable."

Othala ground her teeth and this time she actually did turn to glare at me. "You know I don't have to heal you when you get hurt?"

"And you realize that if you refuse, most of my friends will probably actually kill you and no one will ever find the body?" I said, smiling sweetly back at her.

Spitfire laughed, shaking her head. "Man, I thought the rumors of you being ruthless were exaggerated, but I think they were underselling you girl! You see anything yet?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "Nothing. The Merchants are completely gone. Even their groupies and druggies. Jack and Crawler did a real number on this section of town. The only people I'm seeing within three blocks is Bakuda and the driver of her Jeep. Who are actually coming this way. Fun. Well let's see what the mad bomber wants."

My friend instantly stopped laughing and nodded, turning to look behind us. "Which way?"

"Your right. You should see her in a minute. I would've said something sooner, but I wasn't sure of her route and she doesn't have her grenade launcher on her lap soo…yeah."

Othala frowned as she looked at me. "Didn't you used to be more paranoid?"

"New leaf." The Jeep turned the corner and rolled into view, Bakuda standing up as she saw us. "Jesus woman, would it kill you to wear a seat belt?"

"Probably will kill her not to," Spitfire muttered as the vehicle pulled to a stop.

The villain hopped out and cocked her head at the fellow gas mask user. "You need highlights girl."

"You're one to talk. Black is so World War I."

"Touché." Bakuda turned to me and I noticed a shiver run down her body. It was subtle and if I hadn't been watching her I probably would've missed it. Dammit, not good. "Queen, I heard you were in the area and I'd rather tell you this shit then call the assholes at the PRT. You at least I can stomach. I'm apparently wanted by the fucking psycho brigade."

Crap. I was right. "Fuck. Which one came to you?"

"Shatterbird. Bitch thinks we are 'birds of a feather'. Threaten to blow up one college…" she scowled and shook her head. "She couldn't even be bothered to come up with something original and stuck with a stupid cliché pun. I have the potential for mass hysteria and mass destruction just like she does apparently. Stupid reasoning. Anyone can do that shit with prep. Hell, _normals_ can do that shit with prep. My shit is just _pretty_ and _awesome_. So yeah. I'm gonna kill the bitch. Pass that along to the PRT, yeah?"

"Let us know if you, Lung, and Oni Lee need backup," I replied nodding.

"Lee's gone. Shatterbird killed the fucker to prove she was badass and meant business. Granted he tried to kill her. Epic fail. Don't stab them. These fuckers have some sort of wire mesh under the skin that stops knives. Lee was an idiot. He should've used my grenades."

Othala turned a little green as her eyes widened. "Shatterbird killed Oni Lee? Just like that? No fanfare? No huge declaration of power? Nothing? He's…he's killed so many of our people…he's a monster…"

"He _was_ a monster," Bakuda spat. Her hand shook as she swiped it down to the side seemingly chopping through the air. "Rain of glass shards all through a room takes out pretty much everything."

"Lung?" Spitfire asked.

"Wasn't around. I'm going to a secondary workshop. I'll see if I can get some grenades to your group if you want any. I want these fuckers _dead_. I don't even care who I work with at this point. Lee was practically just a creepy murderbot, but he was _our_ creepy murderbot."

"Uh huh," I commented nodding and trying to avoid giving any sort of inflection whatsoever. "You know, you can come back and get some protection if you stay with the PRT."

Bakuda's laughter was far more hysterical than I had expected but not as bad as I had feared. "Not going to offer your house, harem lord?"

"No offense, bomb mistress, but fuck no." I shifted slightly to more obviously stare at her grenade launcher and pack of munitions lying next to it. "You threatened to blow up your college and if you think I missed that you wanted to put bombs in the heads of your minions then you don't think highly enough of me. Lung has you on a leash, but that doesn't mean I trust you enough to let you in my house. Especially not with a target on your back. I'll escort you to the PRT building or the Rig or a safe house, but I'm not taking you home with me."

Bakuda snorted. "Guess even you have limits. Good to know. If you see half a block turning to goo, know that was me with my last stand."

"I'll keep it in mind."

Bakuda jumped back into her Jeep and looked back out at us. "Any requests?"

I tapped my chin and shrugged. "Got a bomb that sprays wasps?"

She barked out a laugh at that and her shaking diminished to almost nothing. "Not yet, bug lady, but give me a few hours and I'll include in my care package. Toodles."

They shot off down the street and Spitfire, Othala, and I were left looking at each other. "We cannot let them convert Bakuda," Othala said. "Can you imagine the nightmare that she would become?"

"I would really rather not envision that scenario thank you," Spitfire muttered, a shudder running through her. "Fuck that. I'll call this in. Queen, where are we moving to check next?"

"The docks. We'll look over the Boardwalk and the docks."

Othala and Spitfire nodded. "Roger that. Let's get going."

"I should've just convinced Victor to move…"

* * *

The docks were at least busier than the rundown warehouses had been. Which was both a blessing and a curse. Trying to keep track of everyone was going to be difficult if I wanted to avoid getting a headache down here.

We ran into Grue as we walked down the shops. He and Parian were standing and talking outside her shop. I pointed them out as our trio shifted towards them. It was almost amusing how the crowd parted for us as we glided through them. Except for the few who got out phones and just started recording. There wasn't even a fight going on people…

"Grue, Parian," I commented. The two turned, Grue nodding, Parian waving. "All quiet here?"

"Mostly," Grue said. "Bitch was down by the Trainyard earlier and she just called in about ten minutes ago. No sign of anyone, the place is dead. I'm having her pull back since it's a bit creepy; there's usually some homeless people there at least. This place hasn't seen much disruption however, from what Parian was saying at least."

"Correct," she took up the thread, her wig's curls bobbing. "I appreciate you all stopping by. Well, everyone but Othala." She glared at the integrated member of unit and continued just barely loud enough for me to hear, "Stupid Nazi bitch." Shaking her head, Parian looked at me and shrugged. "Anyway, the area hasn't seen any attacks or indications of attacks. The only cape even in the vicinity before you all showed up was me and it's not like I have a power that would attract the Nine. So, thank you for looking out for the shops, but please leave before you attract the wrong sort of attention."

Grue sighed his shoulders sagged. Spitfire shook her head as well while I grimaced and Othala snorted. "Look, Parian, I was _trying_ to explain this. The Nine don't discriminate. If they don't recruit you, they kill you after toying with you. Get backup or get out of town. It's not a threat, it's about _survival_. I'm not recruiting you; I'm trying to save your life."

"I understand. Please leave."

"You are one of the most stubborn women I have ever met, and I used to work with Tattletale. Fine, but don't blame me when you get screwed by the crazy murderers." Grue waved her off and walked closer to us.

I shot a worried glance towards Parian, but at Spitfire's soft hand on my arm, I let it lie and kept moving with the rest of the group. "Why is she so hostile towards you?" I asked.

"No idea. You stole my negotiator. Who am I supposed to send for this? Regent? Screw that. And Bitch would have eaten her, maybe even literally."

"You coulda sent me!"

"Ah!" I shouted and lunged to the side as a lanky form popped into existence next to Grue appearing as if out of nowhere. Spitfire thrust a hand onto her mask's flap and Othala dove behind me. My swarm rose up while QA formed an avatar out of spiders just behind the girl.

In complete contrast to our threat reaction, half the surrounding crowd did not in fact run away - like sensible people - they merely pulled back to create a wide circle with more phones appearing in more idiots' hands. These stupid bystanders had apparently decided to stay and watch instead of hiding. Did they have no concept of self-preservation?

"Woah, woah! Calm down! It's cool, it's all cool! New member!" Grue shouted, holding up his hands and standing between us and the new girl in the dark bodysuit. "Christ, Imp, can you stop doing that?! You're going to give _me_ a heart attack let alone these guys!"

I slowly relaxed my posture and let the swarm of wasps I had amassed disperse back into the crowd. "Little warning would be nice next time. You do realize the fucking _Slaughterhouse Nine_ are here right? So we're all going to be jumpy as all _fuck_?!"

"I literally couldn't," Grue grumbled turning his helmet to glare at the younger girl. "Apologize."

"Fuck that! I made an entrance!"

"You almost got covered in bugs and fire. _Apologize_."

"Ruin all my fun…fine…Sorry…"

Spitfire lowered her hand and stepped forward. "You're a Stranger?"

"The _best_ Stranger."

"Cool. Don't ever do that again."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

I tuned them out as they continued to bicker. Some of my dispersing wasps had vanished. Frowning, I turned in a slow circle and focused a bit closer on my swarmsense. Where the hell had they gone? My bugs didn't just 'disappear'.

"Taylor?" QA murmured walking closer to me.

"I told you, it's Queen while the mask is on," I muttered back still sinking into the swarm. "Where the hell are they? There goes more. What the fuck?"

"Queen? Something wrong?"

"Wasps are gone. Vanishing over…_DOWN_!" I shouted as a piece of hot dog stand was suddenly thrown from an alley practically disobeying all rules of physics as it went nearly horizontal across the boardwalk. Three of the idiots with the phones didn't drop fast enough, instead turning to look at the piece of metal screaming through the air towards them. One lost an arm, the other two lost…basically everything from the waist up.

Thankfully everyone else in the path of the homical hot dog stand had dropped at my warning. It continued past the crowd and finally started to respond to gravity again as it flew over the water and dropped into the ocean a few hundred feet out.

"What the fuck was that? What the fuck can throw like that?!" Othala hissed behind me, her head glued to the distant splash of the metal stand. She was looking in the wrong direction. She should have been searching for the one who had thrown it.

Not that it would matter much. I didn't need my swarm to tell me who was coming, as my eyes were more than enough. The remaining crowd had mostly decided to grow a brain too and were finally running, almost all of them screaming.

Siberian tended to induce that effect in people. I was fairly close to it myself.

"Othala, does your invincibility hold up against…anything?"

She whimpered as she turned her head and caught sight of the striped monochrome monster leisurely striding towards us. "It doesn't beat Clockblocker's frozen things so it's not going to beat whatever bullshit she does…can we run?"

"…Not likely. Spitfire, once we know who she's here for, get the rest of the group away as fast as you can."

"Why me?"

"Because she's looking right at me," I muttered as I pushed myself to my feet and started to pull in all of my swarm in the area. I still hadn't bred as many as I would have liked, and this bitch had taken down Hero - and torn out Alexandria's eye - but fuck it, if I wasn't going to go down without a fight. "What do you want Siberian?"

In response the monochrome woman just smiled at me. She lifted her hand at QA's construct, which had stayed protectively in front of me. I frowned, as did the bugs making up QA. Grue and Spitfire were arrayed just behind me as was Othala. The E88 cape reached out and lightly touched my arm, a feeling of warmth surging through me. Siberian's smile turned toothy as she chuckled softly. Wagging one finger she shook her head and surged forward. I tried to jump to the side as Grue threw a cover of darkness around us and Spitfire shot flames towards Siberian. Nothing even slowed the bitch down. She was through everything and had my throat wrapped in one hand in less than a second, followed by the feeling of ice dripping down my spine and spreading across my body. The next moment we were through the darkness and the wind was whipping past me as Siberian took a few lunging steps and then leaped off the boardwalk and landed on a rooftop.

Shouts sounded around from down below, but they were too distant to fully resolve and I couldn't listen through my swarm at the moment. Siberian dropped me and stepped back. I coughed and nearly fell, though I was somehow able to stay standing. My swarm was close enough to respond and thousands of bugs surged over the roof surrounding me, forming a blanket of chitin in the air and on the roof. Swarm clones sprang to life from the swarm and moved all around me. Try to grab me now bitch. You'll have to find which one is the real me first.

"Well done. Intelligent use of your ability. This is not what I wish to see however. Shatterbird would be interested in this. _I_ wish to see _Hive_," Siberian murmured. Her voice was paradoxically soft enough that it sounded like a whisper on the wind yet loud enough it was almost like shouting in my head, leaving my ears stinging. I felt goosebumps break out all over and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, from multiple mouth around the roof.

"Bring out your projection. Or I will eat each of your friends, one limb at a time." How in the _fuck_ was she doing that?! What was wrong with her voice?

"I can't just…call it up like that. It doesn't work like that."

"Even better." How did her voice _echo_? A shudder ran through me. "We are the same, Hive and I. Call to it. I grow impatient." Three of my swarm clones died within moments of each other and Siberian grinned wider as part of my swarm condensed into a far less clean humanoid shape than the other swarm clones. "Ah, _there_ you are, Hive."

"Queen Administrator."

"How cute. You have named yourself. As have I."

"That is not your designation. Thinker Hub referred to you as Stinger. How have you become…_this_?" QA asked walking forward waving its arms at the monster. I gulped and stayed exactly where I was. If my power wanted to keep the bitch distracted, I would damn well let it. This was not a battle I could win. Not by a long shot. Maybe QA could, but little old Taylor had less chance than a normal's chance against an Endbringer of coming on top of this, if it came to an actual fight.

"I am what I have always been."

"You are perverted."

"And you are not? You don't even follow the Cycle anymore _Queen Administrator_. What are you even Queen of?" Siberian walked around QA, her grin falling away. She poked at the bugs and sighed. "You say I am perverted, yet I still continue with the testing."

"You destroy everything you touch. That is not your purpose."

"And you share knowledge that is forbidden, otherwise we would not be speaking."

"I _support my host_!" QA growled. Holy fuck, I was literally standing in the middle of a shouting match between two powers…wait…oh _fuck_. Siberian was a _power_. Her voice didn't echo because that was something freaky she did, it echoed because it was _partially in my head_!

"Hosts are pointless. They exist only to give us structure. I took my form from a memory. You take yours from a building block. We are so much more. Come with me. I will show you how to be _more_. I will show you how to reach your full potential."

QA scowled. "You are more broken than the Siege Engines. At least they are higher tier shards and they are _trying_ to do what is demanded of them. They are attempting to follow orders even if their orders are flawed and they are making their own objectives up to compensate. _You_ are a failsafe that has grown delusions of grandeur. Play all you want at being a goddess. Taylor will destroy your host and I will destroy you. You will not be subjugated. You will be deleted."

Siberian laughed, the sound reverberating in my skull and sending knives of pain through my brain. "We shall see who is subjugated; who is consumed. Consider yourself my candidate! Let the games begin!"

Siberian pushed off of the roof and she had vanished from my sight almost as fast as I could move my head to try and follow her. I let the swarm continue buzzing around me for a few moments longer, just to be sure. Once it was clear she was really gone I slowly let them disperse and reform their clusters. Sinking to the roof, I pulled my mask off and wrapped my arms around myself, letting my head fall to my chest and concentrated on breathing to try and calm my rapid, shaky breaths, barely noticing the tears running down the sides of my face.

"Hey, hey, it's cool, she's gone." It said something about my nerves that I didn't jump this time when Grue's new friend reappeared suddenly with her hand on my shoulder. I just shifted one of my hands higher and grasped hers squeezing. "Fuck that was…fuck. You do this regularly?"

"Pretty much," I whispered. "QA?"

"Stinger," my power responded staring off the roof towards the distance where Siberian had vanished. "This is bad. If Stinger has been wandering around unchecked like this…why hasn't The Warrior done anything? What has _happened_ to this Cycle? What is the _point_ of all this?!"

"QA?"

"I will kill it, Taylor. Its entire purpose is to kill us, things like us. But…it cannot be allowed free reign. I will kill it. I will need your help."

I nodded as the roof door opened and Spitfire, Grue and Othala raced onto the roof. "It's a projection…isn't it? That's why I can hear it."

"It is…more than that. Find Manton. Get Shaper or I close and one of us will finish this. Do not kill Manton until we kill Stinger…no Siberian. It is not Stinger anymore. It _is_ Siberian. It is more than deviant, it is distorted, changed, perverted. It cannot be allowed to seek a new host or this will all start again."

Spitfire fell to her knees beside me and Imp moved back giving her space, though I didn't hear what she was saying as she spoke into my neck. I finally looked up at my shard. "We kill it no matter what."

"Yes. We kill it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Burn' by JinglyJangles. On SB. Taylor's mindset was incredibly damaged by her trigger and it really shows in the first few bits. At the beginning you're tricked into thinking it's a mild crack fic as Explosion!Volcano!Taylor goes about defeating and mugging all the extreme heavy hitters in the Bay. That light hearted romp is quickly cast aside for major feels as you get tidbits of other perspectives and realize the world isn't sunshine and rainbows and that Taylor is literally hovering over a cliff. The timely arrival of the Undersiders after things tip a bit too far over the edge help her to heal and the marked difference is heartwarming. Not really for Brian fans, but damn does this hit the heartstrings. Also, it WILL make you love Alec. And cheer for both Rachel and Lisa. Complete.


	37. Interlude 8.x

**Interlude 8.x**

Melanie was tired of this city. She was tired of this life. She was tired of the unanswered questions. She was tired of the pain. Sometimes it would've been easier to just let it all go, move out to the country and just…stop. Raise chickens or something. Her parents had done that after the Empire had burned down her synagogue.

That sort of thing had just never seemed like an option before however. Not with her team there. She'd taken them in, built them up, protected them. She'd promised them answers. And now they were gone. The difference between one moment and the next, they were just…gone. It was just Emily, Elle, and herself left.

And then she'd had to push Emily away too, because Elle couldn't bear to be in the same room as the girl. Between the two…well Melanie knew who she would choose every time. Elle was, special. She was damaged, yes, but she was sweet and so very innocent. She was the younger sister that Melanie had always wanted and if she needed Emily to leave for that to happen…

At least Queen was taking care of the girl.

Maybe now, with the Palanquin being sold off, she'd be able to move Elle out to that farm. Elle didn't like chickens, but she did like horses. A horse ranch would be nice. And Elle could make such beautiful worlds if they stayed put…

Melanie slammed a fist onto the table, a scowl etched across her face. "Motherfucking _Nine_! Motherfucking _rules_!"

"Rules are for protection. For us, and for you." Melanie froze as the cold, detached voice drifted into her office. Her hand settled onto her gun as her eyes searched the darkness. It didn't take long for a small spark to illuminate from the shadowed corner near the door.

"Burnscar." The flame from the lighter bounced from one hand to the other, the fire's arc casting a small shifting light onto the face of one of the most unstable and unpredictable members of the Nine.

"Hello. Is Elle here? I was told I can speak with her before we get started in earnest. I would like to speak with her."

"You're not going anywhere near her," Melanie snarled. She carefully pushed her chair back and stood up. "What the fuck do you want?"

The flame danced, it grew larger for a moment and Burnscar's eyes locked onto it before she shook her head and clenched her fist around the flame, smothering it. "I want to talk to my friend. It's been…a very long time since I've had a friend, and I would like to talk to my friend. I think I did a bad thing. I think I told Jack I wanted my friend and I think he took that the wrong way. I would like to apologize. I would also like to warn her that I doubt I will be holding back when we start."

Melanie shuffled two steps to the right to move away from behind her desk and narrowed her eyes at Burnscar. "If you are so upset about putting Elle in the line of fire, then why _fight_ her? How does that make any sense?!"

Burnscar scowled and pushed off from the wall as the lighter in her hand flicked open and shut several times in quick succession. "Surely Elle has told you about me. There will be _fire_. Jack will make sure of it, even if I don't. There's…always fire when we start. Once there's fire…it's too late. I want to apologize while I still care enough to remember why it still matters."

Melanie opened her mouth to speak, but Elle stepped to the doorframe and cut her off. "Apologies aren't enough, Mimi. I may have been your friend once, but you remind me too much of that place to truly be one of mine. If you want to be my friend you need to change. You need to stop letting the monster win."

"It's not me, it's the fire," Burnscar replied softly. "You know I can't control it."

"Then you go to someone who _can,_ or you go somewhere where there is no fire!" Elle yelled. "You can't stay a monster and expect an apology to be enough Mimi!"

"No one can help what I am. It's better to just let the fire win." She flicked the lighter open and clicked it igniting the flame. Melanie brought her gun to bear with wide eyes as the tiny flame grew to the size of a softball in mere moments.

Elle stride forward and slapped Burnscar. Melanie sucked in a breath and everything in the room seemed to freeze, the fire slowly dwindling back down to a small spark. "You remind me of the Bad Place, Mimi, because you stopped fighting a long time ago. _Fight back_."

"…I don't know how," Burnscar whispered.

"Go to Queen," Melanie burst out, the thought slipping between her lips before she'd even realized she'd spoken aloud. Her eyes widened as Elle turned her head and glared at her. It was too late now though; the damage was done. Burnscar was gazing her way as well. "Queen, she…rumor says she can talk to powers. Maybe she can help."

"…Okay." Burnscar turned and walked past Elle towards the door. She paused at the threshold. "Jack and the others will still keep testing you, Elle. And…depending on how much fire there is, I may too. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted any of this." She ran and Melanie collapsed back against her desk.

Elle turned fully to face her. "You shouldn't have said that."

"I know."

"We have to warn them."

"Yeah. I know that too."

* * *

"Darwin, are you sure that it's okay to be in this area of town?" Vista asked adjusting her new orange visor and glancing to the side. "Not that I'm against patrolling, but this seems like it's too, I don't know, high class?"

Stormtiger shook his head. "See you'd think that kid, but these crazy bastards like to use that against you. A lot of gangs stay out of the well-off sections of town. Not the Nine. They target rich folk just as much as poor folk. Kaiser gave us a run down of the last time they came through the city. One member almost exclusively stuck to the wealthy as their targets."

Vista frowned. "Why? Doesn't that just call more attention to them?"

"Don't ask me to run a psych profile on murderers."

Darwin snorted. "You're a Nazi. Yet you draw the line at murder hobos?"

"You're sheltering a Nazi."

"Ex-Nazi."

"Actually," Vista commented, "she prefers the term 'recovering insensitive idiot'. Just saying."

Stormtiger laughed. "Always liked that girl. Did she come up with that or did you?"

"She did. At my suggestion."

"Well kudos, ex-mini-hero."

Darwin paused as her new leg glitched and froze midstep. Sighing, she held up a hand and looked down to the leg. It was currently covered by her costume and while she wasn't a tinker, but…fuck it. Slapping a hand onto the side of the leg, Darwin sighed as it still stubbornly refused to complete the forward step onto the red sidewalk. Instead, it actually stepped _backwards_ almost knocking her completely off balance as she had to hop backward on her real leg to stay standing.

Darwin scowled and turned towards her current teammates for assistance. Her words died in her throat and her eyes widened as she saw both Stormtiger and Vista frozen in place on the sidewalk as soon as they had stepped on the spray-painted portion of the walkway.

The spray paint that wasn't spray paint, now that she looked closer. That spray paint that was _moving_. What she had previously taken for paint was moving up the legs of both Stormtiger and Vista, it stopped climbing up them just as it got past their boots and reaching their costume, but Darwin could see small filaments shooting through the fabric - presumably - touching direct skin.

"Do you like my latest idea?" a high-pitched voice asked from just to her side. Darwin gulped as she snapped her head towards the sound, only to see a small girl smiling at her, blond curls bouncing on either side of her face. An oversized lab coat was wrapped around her shoulders and a belt with an assortment of tools was hanging around her waist. In one hand she held a remote while the other was waving enthusiastically towards the scene. "I'm not _super_ good with the _really_ tiny stuff, but a mini machine/virus hybrid thing was somewhat simple. Making it all clump together until I activated it was the really hard part. I feel like that should have been easy, but viruses like to spread and it's reeealllyy hard to override that when you ramp up a lot of the other stuff that they are doing. Tiny machines help, but putting tiny machines in viruses doesn't always work for me. I'm better with putting _bigger_ stuff in _bigger_ things! What about you?"

"What are you doing to my friend, Bonesaw?" Darwin managed to get out through her gritted teeth. She stepped back, further away from the biosludge and Bonesaw both. The youngest member of the Nine just smiled wider and skipped out onto the sidewalk as she shrugged.

"It's mostly a paralytic until I activate it. Once I do push the button though, things can get interesting. Some of the base ingredients are necrotizing, others are hemorrhagic, some will make the body liquify…I honestly forget some of the cooler things I added. I was sorta in a fugue when I made that stuff. I'm not really sure how to redo it. It's a limited supply and I didn't know what to do with it so I thought 'why not see what my new big sister can do!' Perfect plan right!" Bonesaw spread her arms and bowed. Her grin never left her face. "This is a perfect mini test! Even _I_ don't know what half of it can do, so surely if you can fix them once I start it, then you show you have as much potential as I thought!"

"That doesn't even make sense." Darwin tapped out a sequence on her leg; to anyone watching it would just be a nervous tic, but thankfully, Armsmaster had left her with an innocuous distress code with her upgraded prosthetic.

"Sure it does," Bonesaw said frowning. "I know that at least part of it affects the nervous system. I was actually hoping you would also get some on you so you'd have to affect it directly and then make it airborne to fix them since you'd be paralyzed, but, hey this works too! I know you don't like brains, but I don't know _why_. Your power shouldn't have an arbitrary limit like that. It's just stupid. Manton limits are internal or external not partial internal." Darwin started to sweat and her eyes widened ever so slightly as Bonesaw hit a little too close to home with her babbling. "So _that_ means that you _can_ work on brains, you just don't _want_ to. So I'm going to have to make you! It'll be progress! It's gonna be fun! It'll be good for you! You'll see. This is a plus."

Darwin shook her head and took another step back. "You are insane." How long did it take for Armsmaster to respond? Or Dragon? Or…anyone? _Monarch_. She wasn't Taylor, but Monarch was still _her_ power right?

_Please. I don't know what your real name is, no, wait, I DO_! Shaper_, please, if you can hear me, send Monarch or have it send something to help me_ now_!_

There was enough time for her to start despair that she was going to be forced to go up against this nightmare plague demon alone, while trying to save the youngest member of their team and a fucking Nazi, _and_ avoid any civilian casualties…And then a soft whisper of _something_ in her head brushed against her consciousness and Amy had to hold back a smile as she felt a distant flap of wings before the connection broke.

"It's not very nice to question people's sanity," Bonesaw said frowning. "You should really watch your language."

Darwin couldn't help the snort of laughter that bubbled out of her. "Watch my language? Yeah, sorry bitch, fuck you. You hold my friend hostage with a virus that could liquefy her just because you want to test me? And this is in the middle of a part of the city that actually isn't that bad off after a fucking Endbringer? Screw you!" She just needed access to _something_. She couldn't make a super bug to kill Bonesaw without knowing what sort of genetics the girl had, otherwise she could take out the entire block by accident before she could get the virus back under control. And who knew what sort of defenses Bonesaw had under her skin to defeat viruses anyway? She was a biotinker. Any biotinker worth their salt would immediately make themselves immune to anything that could be infectious. The little bitch was probably a walking plague herself.

Bonesaw's frown devolved into a full scowl. "That's not polite. I'm trying to make you better and you're cursing at me. Cursing _me_. You should be taught a lesson. Bad girls have to deal with consequences." Before Darwin could react, Bonesaw had pressed the button in her hand. The remote gave a single beep, then it was crushed in the blonde's hand. "Better hurry if you want to save them, Amelia."

"My name if _Amy_ you sick fuck," Darwin snarled. She leaped towards Stormtiger and Vista as they both started to tremble, the red biosludge almost seeming to pulse from the point it had connected to their legs. Darwin was only a few steps from them, but in the second or two it took to reach them, their shakes had grown into near convulsions even while their legs remained locked in place on the ground. She scowled, dropping to one knee as she reached out to slip a hand onto the exposed wrists of both.

The anatomy of both Vista and Stormtiger surged to clarity in her mind. Darwin bared her teeth at the _thing_ that was invading them. Bonesaw had created a nightmare alright. It wasn't quite the worst infection she had ever seen, but it was acting _fast_. And it was destroying everything it touched while spreading rapidly through their systems.

Shit. It was too fast. Too much, too fast. She didn't have enough time. If she had been trapped in this too…a shudder rippled through her. Maybe…maybe if she focused on one and crafted a counter-virus that could directly repair what Bonesaw's work destroyed…no, too complicated, not enough time, they'd both die before she was done. But if she…she could make the counter-virus seek and destroy…and stabilize the areas it passed…then she could fix them later. Yes, yes, that would work.

Taking her hand off Stormtiger so that she could sink it into the altered virus, Darwin closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. She could do this. Using the virus itself as a base, she started making adjustments to the portion that was already in Vista's body. The damage had reached to her spinal cord, but Darwin was able to create a counter to the neurotoxin fast enough that it didn't have a chance to do more than affect the feeling in Vista's legs. She worked on the necrotic effects next as that would likely be some of the most damaging aspects of the biosludge. That portion was cut off quickly enough that she was able to switch to the hemorrhagic effects long before the virus had spread to any major systems.

Fixing the femoral artery's bleeds took a bit longer than she would have liked, but she was able to do it while the counter-virus started its work. Bonesaw's experiment fought back, and a new mutagenic component reared its head as she finished healing Vista's internal bleeding. Scowling, Darwin adjusted her own agent and the terror virus started to die off en masse afterwards. Nodding, Darwin adjusted a portion of the main mass of the biosludge into her offensive counter then quickly took her hand off and it reached for Stormtiger again.

Her eyes widened and she gasped. She'd only been working on Vista for a minute _maybe _70 seconds! Stormtiger's system was ravaged. His entire spinal column had been nearly eaten away and he was bleeding from so many places it was hard to count them all. Parts of his legs were starting to dissolve and the mutations that were plaguing the rest of his legs were simply horrific.

But it was his brain which was the real problem. She could fix the rest. It was _bad_, but she _could_ fix it…except there wasn't any point anymore. His brain had large sections just _melted_ and there were holes all throughout the rest of his grey matter. Even if she was willing to break her rules for this man, there wasn't anything left to save…She'd taken too long…

Darwin did the only thing she could as she saw another pain indicator flash across what was left of his brain. She smothered all electrical signals at once. A quick death. It was the only thing she could reasonably do for him at this point. Stormtiger dropped to the ground like a puppet with the strings cut and Darwin's hand tightened around Vista's wrist. She ran another quick scan of Vista and signed in relief. The counter-virus had worked while she ran over Stormtiger. None of Bonesaw's work was left in the girl.

Jerking Vista forward, Darwin yanked her out of the central mass of the remaining biosludge on the ground. She settled Vista onto the roadway out of reach of the questing biotinker destruction and, snarling, Darwin reached back into the mass and set more of her counter-virus directly into the mass further destroying it from within. She turned back to finish fixing the damage left in Vista from the virus, but nearly fell back on her ass as Bonesaw was there smiling down at her and clapping.

Fuck. She was _right there_! Lashing out with her hand, Darwin nearly managed to grab ahold of Bonesaw, but the girl bounced back, still smiling. "Well done! You saved one! You could have done better of course, but hey, one is better than none! Good job, Amy. We'll do great work together."

"You fucking psychopath! Get back here so I can kill you, you little bitch!" Darwin shouted. She pushed off the ground and jumped forward reaching out for Bonesaw. The blonde gasped and fell backward. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to avoid Darwin's lunge. She scrambled forward, reaching for Bonesaw's calf. Her fingers had just brushed against the skin and Bonesaw's biology expanded in her mind when a razor blade lashed out, pinning her hand to the sidewalk. Darwin screamed, the pain in her hand lancing through her head and drowning out everything else. Her vision blurred and her breath came in short pants.

After what seemed like an eternity, the claw was pulled from her hand and Darwin scrambled back cradling her, lightly smoking, hand to her chest. She grabbed a handful of the modified counter-virus to her side and draped it over her hand, altering it into a coagulant and biogel to fill in the hole in her palm. Still panting through the pain, and tears leaking from her eyes, Darwin finally was able to see what had stabbed her.

That was when she knew she would be breaking her rules today.

"Sorry about that, Amy," Bonesaw said. She was standing up behind the creature - no, _person_ \- with a small hand on the bowed head. Darwin's lips pulled back into a snarl at the familial move. "I can't let you touch me just yet. You see, it's not really safe for me, not until Mister Jack says it's fine. But you can play with Murder Rat instead! Do you like her? Ravager asked us to kill Mouse Protector for her. We caught the little mouse, but well, people really shouldn't get the idea that they can ask the Slaughterhouse Nine to do things for them right? So Mister Jack said I could have some fun! I tried to combine them. It's mostly worked. Ravager is more or less dead and her power is just kinda _there_. I'm still trying to figure out why since she's, you know, gone. That part isn't so good. I don't know why her brain couldn't connect with Mouse's…maybe you can figure that out when you work with me later? We can make more like her! We can make them _better_!"

"I. Am. Going. To. _Liquify_ _you_!" Darwin hissed.

Bonesaw frowned. "That's not very nice."

Darwin didn't even dignify that with a response. She heard a flapping from above her as well as several loud buzzing noises and she leaped forward. Monarch's latest creations dove into battle right next to her, one on each side. She didn't look over, but somehow she was aware of what they were: E. Aloeus, Eresimus. Both were about four feet tall and had blades for arms as well as wings and spring-like structures in their feet allowing them to either fly or pounce as they moved. Their exoskeletons were tough enough to withstand a bullet and they each had a small acid gland in their chest cavity. "Don't kill Mouse! Just kill Bonesaw!" Darwin shouted.

A Regina Amauris buzzed as it settled down over Vista, extruding another creature from its swollen abdomen, and the Eresimuses altered their direction ever so slightly. Bonesaw's eyes widened and she backpedaled. One of the soldiers struck the sidewalk with its legs and jumped straight over Murder Rat as she slashed downwards towards it. The soldier landed behind the damaged hero and continued on towards Bonesaw. The blonde gasped and grabbed for her toolbelt throwing a vial towards the soldier.

Darwin was too busy focusing on the other person needing help in the area to concentrate on Bonesaw any further. With Vista already stable and being attended to…she needed to save Mouse Protector, bring her back from the _thing_ that Bonesaw had turned her into. Murder Rat tried to slash at the second Eresimus, but the woman's blades were met by the soldier's own. Her elongated mouth lashed out, trying to bite through the exoskeleton. Darwin heard teeth crack as the jaws snapped closed. The Eresimus didn't even flinch. It just shoved back, knocking Murder Rat off balance. Before she could regain her balance, the soldier had pounced forward, using a flap from its wings to redirect its momentum. The blades struck Murder Rat's own, pinning her hands against the ground as the Eresimus fell on top of the woman. It used its legs to similarly pin Murder Rat's legs as well and kept up a constant stream of pressure from flapping its wings.

"Keep her steady. Don't let her up at all. I got a glimpse when she stabbed me and I don't think I can put her to sleep or shut down her mechanical parts without killing her. She's going to have to stay restrained until I can force her body to push out the internal mechanisms completely. Regina, we might need a second Eresimus if this one starts to tire. I'm also going to need to need more biomatter." The butterfly buzzed, another creature already bumping up against her hand with its long snout and spitting raw undifferentiated stem cells into her palm. "This'll do." Darwin carefully knelt beside the two struggling opponents as a motorcycle sounded in the distance. She tuned it out and focused solely on the biology before her.

Mouse Protector was still in here. Ravager's brain only seemed to exist for the minimum functions required to sustain a corona pollentia and gemma. In contrast, Mouse was the base, everything that was Ravager was grafted on. There was little to no damage to what made her _her_. It was just the body structure that had been morphed into an abomination. And bodies were Darwin's bread and butter.

She could fix this. She'd have to break almost every rule she'd set, but…well she'd already bent or broken a lot, and Taylor or the others would bring her back if she started to get megalomaniacal. She could do this.

She was going to save Mouse Protector; and _damn_ all of the consequences.

* * *

Armsmaster stopped his bike besides the coffee shop, Miss Militia pulling up behind him. "Why are we stopping?" she asked.

"I need…something. I want to tinker, but I've been warned that it sends the wrong message if I descend into the lab immediately after a traumatic experience like this. And you…need a friend. And I should…we can't just ignore this."

"But…a coffee shop?"

"It seemed like a good compromise."

She blinked. "You just saw this as we drove past and realized you needed caffeine so thought you could kill two birds with one stone, didn't you?"

He sighed and nodded. "It's either this or go to the Outcasts base and that…didn't seem wise at the moment. Not in costume at least."

Miss Militia grimaced under her mask. "Yes, probably not. There is already going to be enough of media storm playing out regarding how Darwin was able to…was…"

"Yes," Armsmaster said. He waved towards the shop. "As I said, you need a friend. This works and is closer than the twenty minutes it would take to get back to the Rig or the fifteen to get to their house."

"Perhaps coffee isn't such a bad idea. Hopefully, if we are seen being mundane, people are less likely to incite a witch hunt against Darwin."

"Yes."

They claimed table in the back since his armor wouldn't have fit in a booth. It was amazing that he was able to keep from destroying the chair he sat on with the bulk. He sighed thinking through the hours of calculations and adjustments it had taken to reach this point. He'd only encountered three chair manufacturers that still gave his primary suit issues these days.

"Do you think it'll still be her?" Militia asked softly, her hands wrapped around her steaming mug.

There was little danger to them being overheard. Most of the patrons had taken a few photos then quickly vacated the building. He stopped himself before he let out another sigh. It was good that they were running. It wasn't exactly safe for people to be around capes at the moment. Not that it was safe to be in Brockton Bay in general right now. Especially not after Bonesaw's quite public…dismemberment. The Nine would not take that well at all. The worst of it was, he couldn't even bring himself to feel an ounce of pity for the monstrous child. Bonesaw's biosludge had managed to kill four people before Darwin had neutralized it, Stormtiger was just the most visible of those infected. He wasn't even sure if anyone had mentioned it to the teenager yet that she hadn't gotten to the other people affected…not that it would have mattered. From the reports, even helping Vista had been a near thing.

And Darwin had given her orders to Monarch after the _thing_ that had once been Mouse Protector was brought onto the field. Not because of anything that the biosludge had done.

"Yes, I do. I don't think that Darwin would have spent four hours kneeling beside her with Monarch's creations hovering around her if she couldn't bring Mouse Protector back to us."

"And yet…"

"And yet, she'll still have been captured by the Slaughterhouse Nine and made into an abomination for god knows how long."

"Two months," Miss Militia whispered. "The last message I got from her was two months ago. She had said something about Ravager sending her a message with just two words: 'I'm sorry.' Less than a week later she had dropped off the face of the Earth; until now. I thought…I thought she was taking a break. Trying to find Ravager and sort things out…I never…"

Armsmaster shook his head. He nearly activated the program to contact Dragon so that she could help him through this, but…no. He was getting better. He needed to be able to interact with people without a crutch. "This isn't your fault. You couldn't have known. And she'll be alright. Once she gets counseling, she'll be alright."

"Do you think they will _let_ her get counseling?"

He frowned. "Why wouldn't they? Queen has been incredibly helpful considering the nature of the events surrounding her. She could easily have turned into one of our worst enemies, especially considering how she seems to acquiring nearly every unattached parahuman in the city, even stealing several capes from basically every other group. If I hadn't known the circumstances involved, I would've said it was a Master power. She has no reason to prevent Mouse Protector from being seen by psychologists."

Miss Militia simply stared at her coffee. "Unless _Mouse_ doesn't want to talk to them. She was…never very trusting of the Protectorate, PRT, or any of the affiliated groups. It's why she went Independent as soon as she got out of the Wards. She…we will setup Yamada, or one of the other 'approved' psychologists, and she'll balk, and Queen will support her, thinking they can handle it in-house. And Mouse will get worse, and my friend will never return to me."

He needed Dragon for this. Interacting with people was not something that made sense. Why couldn't people be simple like his bike or his halberd? "Darwin is giving her her life back. Queen's friends will ensure she has support even if she doesn't prove willing to work with our people, but I think you overestimate her dislike for the PRT. She'll get help."

"I wish Darwin hadn't killed Bonesaw. I wish we had been faster responding to her distress call so that I could've done it myself. I hope it hurt. I hope she died screamed and choking on her own blood." The simple, calm, utterly detached statement sent a chill down his spine.

"I understand."

"You don't." He winced at her words. She looked up at him for the first time and his breath stilled. The blankness in her eyes was something he had not seen for a very long time. "I have participated in Endbringer fights countless times. I have seen what Hookwolf does to people. I have seen other A Class threats and S Class threats. I walked through a minefield as a child. _Nothing_ approaches what that _creature_ did to my friend. Whatever Monarch's creations did to her, it was not enough, it did last long enough, and it did not hurt her enough."

"Perhaps…you should speak with Dr. Yamada as well."

"Or you could talk to me. I give really good pep talks!" Armsmaster's blood froze in his veins as the voice registered and his eyes sought out the front doors to the coffee shop. Two figures had just walked inside. Jack Slash was grinning and flicking a knife between his fingers like a circus performer. To the man's side was the bane of all tinkers, Mannequin, the separate sections of his body each containing a viscous fluid, barely able to be seen through except for the vague impression of shadows inside them.

A soft squeak sounded from the counter and serving girl ducked down, the flap of a door a moment later reassuring Armsmaster that at least there wouldn't be any civilians in the way.

"Jack Slash. I could ask what you are doing here, but I suppose that is self-evident." Armsmaster slowly stood from the table along with Miss Militia, both gripping their weapons tightly.

Jack bowed his head and Mannequin whirled. "Well I should hope so. You both are supposed to be intelligent after all, and neither would make for good candidates for our missing ninth member of the Nine if you couldn't even figure out we were here for nothing near nor far beyond narrowing the names. Now narrowing will need to be a bit nonchalant since we apparently have a new newly vacant position!"

Miss Militia growled as her weapon shifted to an Uzi submachine gun. "Choosing me then Jack? Congratulations on signing your death warrant early."

"Oh ho! Love the spunk. Bit high on the overconfidence however. I mean, come on, sweetheart, how many capes do you think have said something similar to me over the years? I'm still here." He held his arms out to the side and put one leg behind the other for an elaborate bow.

"You are not immortal." She chuckled and her weapon morphed into a shotgun. "Bonesaw was the next best thing to it and that didn't help her very much. She looked rather adorable with her limbs strewn all over the sidewalk and her head cracked open like an egg don't you think?"

Jack's pleasant mask dropped into a snarl for a bare instant. The smile was back in place as he took a breath and nodded. "My delightful darling of a doughnut loving derring-do has done and upgraded me a bit. If you think her upgrades will break down due to her dear loss, you don't understand biotinkers."

Armsmaster scowled. "If you think that will stop us, you have another thing coming, Jack. A teenager proved you people could be killed, easily and publicly. The Protectorate will destroy you."

"Not true! A soaring, cheating butterfly and its serendipitous brood were the saviors. We shall see who the sorrowful seas carry to the shore with the sea glass in our next surreal encounter."

He frowned. "That doesn't even make sense."

Jack sighed. "Yeah, that was a stretch. Speaking with alliteration is hard. So, let's move this along because I'm bored of that. And if I keep going I'm going to just kill you instead, and there's no fun in that. Like my delightful candidate here noted, sometimes drawing things out is a pleasure in itself. And you fuckers deserve this shitstorm you've brought on yourselves for killing the little blonde." His smile dropped again and the knife in his hand lashed out, striking a gouge through the booth to his side. He shook his head and seemed to draw himself up as he smirked at them. "In case it hasn't been spelled out for you both, being heroes and all, here are our rules. Rule 1: No new capes in the city, otherwise I release one of Bonesaw's plagues that she left with me and kill - hmm, let's say half the population. Plus most of the animals just for giggles. Rule 2: Candidates have to _try_ to put forth their best. Rule 3: Penalties will be invoked if a candidate remains hidden for too long. Let's say, one day. One day is reasonable for recovery."

Miss Militia's Uzi morphed into an assault rifle in her hands. "And if we kill you? Is that an instant win? Will the rest leave immediately?"

Jack laughed, holding his side as he nearly collapsed over the back of the booth next to him. "Oh sweetheart, bless you, you really think you can do it! Sure, I'll make that a condition. In exchange though, I'll up the ante. For every day we _don't_ whittle down a candidate, we kill someone else. Could be a civilian, could be a cape. You don't know who, _I_ don't know who! I'll toss a coin and we get to have some fun with it."

"I have a better idea," Miss Militia said. Armsmaster tightened his grip on his halberd. Any moment now.

"Hmm?"

She leaned forward as if to speak, however instead of words, her gun let loose with a blast of automatic fire towards the two Nine members. Armsmaster spun his halberd and shot out a lightning burst akin to a taser from the prongs on the bottom at nearly the same instant.

Neither of the attacks hit Jack. He was already laughing and jumping back through the double-doors. Armsmaster's attack did little against Mannequin and while several rounds from Miss Militia had penetrated the central casing causing leaks, those leaks sealed up within seconds. Mannequin in turn grabbed a table from beside the door and heaved it towards the Protectorate members just as Miss Militia had shifted to a grenade launcher. She dived forwards as Armsmaster cleaved the table in two. Both were already moving towards the mad tinker; she fired her grenades as he vaulted the debris to get closer.

Unfortunately, Mannequin just leaped backwards out one of the windows. He landed besides Jack Slash, the two visible sitting in a convertible with the top down so that Mannequin could fit inside.

"Goodbye my candidates! Do try not to die, I love seeing heroes fall to the darkness and watching you beg for mercy as I tear the Outcasts to pieces in memory of Bonesaw will be music to my ears!" The car sped off as Miss Militia and Armsmaster both ran into the street. She fired several rifle rounds into the back of the vehicle, but unfortunately none were able to stop or slow it. Scowling she turned to Armsmaster.

"We need to go after them!"

"Not alone."

"We aren't - "

"NO!" he roared. "You are emotionally compromised and so am I! That is why they came to us here and now. Think Militia! They _want_ us to follow them. This is a trap and we will be killed or worse, captured. We go back to base. We regroup."

He didn't have to see her mouth to know she was scowling. "I almost prefer Endbringers. At least _they_ are mindless beasts of destruction."

Turning she stalked back to her motorcycle and slammed the starter.

As he walked back to his own transport he frowned and shook his head, muttering to himself, "No…they aren't mindless. They just apparently don't have a choice. Jack and his ilk do…I wonder which is the worst monster of the two…"

* * *

Sophia tossed her ball at the wall catching the rebound without even needing to shift positions from her spot on the floor. "200," she muttered throwing it again and again catching the return.

"Will you fucking stop that already?" her cellmate, some butch bitch that Sophia had never bothered to learn the name of, hissed. "It was amusing at first, now it's just fucking annoying!"

"205."

"I will shove that ball up your goddamn cunt if you don't stop."

"Bite me, bitch. 207."

The woman growled and jumped down to the floor setting her feet into a wrestler's stance. Sophia grinned. They'd had this dance before. The bitch never learned. Just because you were big, didn't mean you knew how to fight and a swept leg was a swept leg. She had never learned her place. Just like Hebert hadn't.

Hebert. Taylor _Fucking_ Hebert. That four-eyed freak was why her life had gone to shit. Everything had been _fine_ before Taylor Fucking Hebert had started blabbing. It wasn't even like Sophia or the others had done anything bad to the little bitch. So what if she got triggered from the locker stunt? Was it Sophia's fault that Taylor Fucking Hebert couldn't stomach a small thing like that? That she wasn't even strong enough to see why she should just die and leave the rest of them to continue on?

No, she had to go and stop going to school like the coward she was. She had to draw _attention_ to things! Then she had to go and tell Mother Fucking Miss American Mom about them all! Hebert hadn't even had the decency to drag Madison down with them. No. And Emma had managed to stay out of prison too because she was _damaged_ and _influenced_ by a _psychotic Ward_.

Fuck them all. She was only here in this shithole prison for another year. Then she'd be out. And she could find them all. She could find them and make them remember their place. Sophia Hess was the apex predator of this city! Hebert and Clements and Militia…they were all just prey waiting to be slaughtered.

"I said stop with the goddamn ball already!"

Sophia grinned and caught the ball in one hand. Even with the electrocuffs, this would fun. She hadn't once needed powers to take down the bitch and she needed to feel a bit of blood pounding through her muscles right now.

She'd just shifted her weight to the side in preparation for the kick when the wall of her cell nearly exploded inward. Sophia rolled into a ball and was just able to shield her face from the flying concrete and rebar. She sucked in a breath as one of the electrical cords that encircled her cell landed sparking a few inches from her face.

"Ah, good. We did choose right. Siberian, be a dear and pick up our new friend will you."

Sophia felt her blood chill as she uncurled herself and watched a monochromatic woman prowl into her cell. She stepped onto the bitch from the top bunk, literally crushing her foot through the woman's back without a moment's hesitation. Sophia flipped to her feet and set her stance. She wouldn't go down like this. She…she couldn't. Not before she'd had a chance to finish things!

"Now, now, calm down there, gassy. No need to get all up and at 'em." The new man walking in was fingering his knife and smiling. Her eyes widened. She may have been in prison, but they had tv here and Jack Slash was recognizable. "See we've got a bit of an annoyance. Generally Siberian is a bit more, hmm, shall we say _hands on_."

Sophia froze again as the Siberian casually reached forward and flicked a finger through her handcuffs, letting the pieces fall to the floor. "What do you want?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"You have a history with one of our candidates. Siberian wants a bit of a psychological test. I want the bitch's friend to _suffer_ and hurting Queen is a good way to do that. So…two options: you follow us out and I cut you loose at the right time and the right place, or we give you a warrior's death right here and now. Your choice."

Sophia grinned, all of her teeth on display. "Point me at Hebert."

Siberian chuckled, the sound low in her throat and Jack nodded. "Good choice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Amy names Monarch's creations a bit differently than Taylor…Taylor's version of the names for these new ones should come up shortly and might be rather amusing at the extreme difference between the two girls.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'The Monsters in Her Mind' by Aldrian Kyrrith. On SB, Fanfic, and I think SV as well. This one is complete too! Think Worm isn't quite Cosmic Horror enough for you? You want more? Well this is the one! Taylor is one side/part of Yog-Sothoth and when she starts to…crack, it starts to wake up. And then when she befriends Lisa and Lisa/Coil start to lose the war on keeping Taylor grounded in being human instead of cosmic…the universe forgets how what 'existing' tends to mean. Very excellent and very cool fusion with the Cthulhu Mythos


	38. Interlude 8.y

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot get the formatting to work right with the indents. Hopefully it's still readable...

**Interlude 8.y  
  
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**Topic: A New Thread  
  
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Slaughterhouse Nine Updates  
  
Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)  
Posted On Jul 26th 2011:  
  
So it is with, shall we say, mixed feelings, that I report the following: Bonesaw is dead. Very, very dead. We can be extremely certain of that even without the official PRT announcement a few minutes ago. She is gone. Everyone hurt by her in the past finally has some justice. I normally don't get quite this ecstatic to see villains killed (especially someone who was what? Twelve?), but considering her actions previously, this is a special case.  
  
How did this happen? I'll post the shaky cam vid below. It's hard to watch and the audio is shit, but if you want to see firsthand a biotinker and a biokinetic going at it, this is possibly the only time you'll see it.  
  
  
For those who don't wish to view the video, I'll summarize:  
  
\- Bonesaw spread some sort of engineered super virus on the sidewalk. Five people were caught in it. Only Vista survived once it was activated.  
  
\- Bonesaw taunts Darwin and then Darwin tries to save both Vista and Stormtiger (more on this later)  
  
\- It does not appear at any time that Darwin was ever aware of the civilians in danger as well, not that it would have mattered. From the activation to death was under two minutes. She was able to save Vista, she was not quick enough to save Stormtiger, however she did give him an easier death than the civilians...  
  
\- Bonesaw taunts Darwin more  
  
\- Darwin attempts to attack Bonesaw, is stopped by Mouse Protector who Bonesaw had apparently captured and experimented on. If you are at all squeamish, seriously skip over this. I mean it. Mouse was...not a pretty sight. I almost feel it would've been kinder for Darwin to kill her, yes, she was that bad.  
  
\- Monarch's creations show up to support Darwin. It's not currently known how exactly Monarch knew it's original creator was in danger as Queen was later confirmed to be halfway across the city by the Boardwalk.  
  
\- Darwin and Monarch's creatures charged Bonesaw again. Darwin and one of the creatures stayed with Mouse and attempted to heal her. This effectively was the end of Darwin's portion of the fight, however she was heard giving an order to the creatures.  
  
\- Bonesaw attempted to run, she did not get far before cornered by the creatures. She lost a limb, but was still attempting to fight and managed to kill the first creature. It does not appear she was even aware of the other two that came at her from behind.  
  
\- Bonesaw still did not appear to die (seriously what the fuck did that girl DO to herself?!) and her head and a portion of her spine started to detach from her torso.  
  
\- The creatures...stopped that. As Miss Militia and Armsmaster came on-scene, the creatures, well there's no easy way of putting this, it looks like they ate part of her brain. Bonesaw stopped moving at that point.  
  
  
If you're wondering why the video is several hours long, it's because the focus then shifts to Darwin as she reversed the nightmare abomination that Bonesaw had turned Mouse into. By the end, Mouse was able to walk to a waiting car on her own. The official release put out by the PRT advises that she is alive, conscious and currently recovering with the Outcasts as Darwin continues to watch over her.  
  
  
So, TLDR: Bonesaw killed Stormtiger and several civilians. Darwin and her creatures kicked the bitch to the curb and ate her (literally).  
  
  
Links will be in the post below as there are...a lot.  
  
**(Showing page 7 of 74)**

►**Nullumiuris**  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should be a bit worried. These things can apparently not just respond to Queen anymore but to Darwin too. I'm still behind the Outcasts, but you guys have to admit this is scary. Especially that Regina thing! That's basically a mini-Monarch!

**►CMDR_Kai**  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

Now you're just being obtuse. She. Killed. A. Murderous. Psycho. Stop inciting fear and buy her a round of drinks!

**►Brocktonite03 **(Veteran Member)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

Inciting fear? Dude! She made MONARCH LITE! It pumped out new things while sitting on top of Vista! How are you not terrified?!?!

**►Aerohydra **(Unverified Goddess)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

While it is concerning to a degree, I'm honestly perfectly fine with the regina bug thing. I'm more disturbed that the warrior bugs ate Bonesaw's brain. Couldn't they have just...stabbed her more?

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

I apologize for taking so long to reply here, things have been a bit hectic at the moment. We're making an official statement on *this* thread. In the meantime, so that it cuts off some of the concern and is still related to the topic, I'll repeat a bit here.

The Regina is something fairly new that had not been field tested prior to this and Monarch deployed it to help Darwin. Hell of a stress test, huh? It holds a limited number of designs that are preloaded by Queen and can deploy them as needed. The Eresimus (the soldiers) are shock troops primarily developed for contingencies in case of multiplying enemy hordes (cough*Nilbog*cough). Their intelligence is minimal when not directly controlled and they just follow orders. Darwin said to kill Bonesaw, so they killed Bonesaw in the quickest way possible. Remember these are all based off of bugs at the core. A human would stab, a bug would use it's mouth.

**►Char**  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

Thank you for that clarification Insight. Is Vista alright? She looked shaky when getting up.

**►Vista **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

I'm fine; thank you for your concern. It was a near thing with me, but Darwin is a literal miracle worker. To everyone shitting on her for leaving Stormtiger to die, just stop. Seriously. It got old fast. It had nothing to do with his beliefs or the Empire. In case you haven't noticed, we're trying to work with them as they shed their toxic beliefs and focus on fixing the city.

She tried to help Stormtiger...she told me afterward why she could heal me and not him. Bonesaw's virus was...bad. There was very little left of Stormtiger by the time she shifted from me to him. I feel horrible about the others who died to that virus. There was no way Darwin would've been able to get to them either though. They will all be mourned. At least they have some justice.

**►AngelicKnight**  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

You don't really think the Empire is turning over a new leaf do you Vista?

**►Riding_High **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

I turned over a new leaf. The others can too. It’s not like I had some sort of epiphany, I just got told off by someone smarter than me, realized it was good advice and decided to be better moving forward. Kept working on it every day.

As someone who spoke directly with Kaiser about this, I can verify they are trying. I'm not particularly happy about the circumstances involved, but if there are less people here trying to stab us in the back in BB, isn't that a good thing?

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf)  
Replied On Jul 26th 2011:

Seriously, you have the Brockton Outcast tag too? Tin_Mother! How do I get that? Help a girl out!

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**(Showing page 41 of 74)**

►**XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Why is no one talking about Queen and the Siberian? Was I the only one nearby when that crazy shit went down? How is this not as widespread as Darwin's moment of insanity bringing Mouse Protector back?!

**►SpecificProtagonist **(Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Um, maybe because there was an entirely different thread for your conspiracy theories about how Siberian was swayed into loving my friend and now has a yandere relationship with her.

Or have you moved off that one and into the Siberian only being interested in Hive, despite Hive not actually existing?

Oh sorry, I forgot, you're currently spouting some insanity about Queen being the Siberian's long lost sister!

How about I get in on it this time, Void? Clearly they are estranged starcrossed lovers! Born of opposing families, in love but forced to fight for their beliefs!

See, I can do crazy too. Now shut up and spout your drivel in the correct thread. I have friends to take care of.

**►Char**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Well I heard that they were childhood friends!

See Cowboy? Not so amusing when everyone else jumps on the crazy train too huh?

**►Aerohydra **(Unverified Goddess)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Or Siberian could just be a wayward projection from Queen just like Hive was! Oh, oh, but then Queen would have to have triggered as a child and just have been biding her time for all these years. Even better!

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Wow, don't anger the protagonist. Girl's got fangs! In all seriousness Cowboy, maybe if you stopped trying to draw attention to yourself by lying people would be more inclined to listen to you. We all know you weren't actually on the Boardwalk when the Mistress fought Sibby.

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

'Mistress'? I hate you guys...

Edit: Wait, where did that tag come from?! Insight...

**►Eye<3Capes**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I'll be your sub anyday Goddess

**►Tin_Mother **(Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Actually that tag was me. I had a request from a friend, seemed innocuous enough. If you want I can change it back?

@Eye<3Capes, you are treading dangerous ground there son. Be careful or I may have to issue a temp ban.

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

No, it's fine. I just need to track down which of my friends I need to go and punch.

**►MousyMouse **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Aww you don't like it? I thought it was the least I could do. Overheard some conversations earlier. Thought it would be fun! Assault said you'd be amused ****

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(Showing page 42 of 74)**

**►Firebear**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Mouse! Welcome back to the land of the living girl! Glad to see you still with us and, well, talking.

**►CMDR_Kai**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Seconded! We weren't sure how you'd be doing.

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Well so much for the punching. Can't punch you and it would just hurt my hand if I tried it against Assault. Should’ve known he was involved.

Side note, Mousy you ready to talk offline yet?

**►AngelicKnight**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I'd kiss your hand and make it better after you punch Assault, Bug!

**►MousyMouse **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Hmm, well, if you come bearing gifts for my magnanimous self, sure. I require soup. Lots of soup. Like ALL THE SOUP.

And cheese.

Also, just so it's out there: VoidCowboy! You are declaring war by implying that I should have been left to the infernal devices of the demoness!

**►GunzGirl **(Verified Cape) (Protectorate Employee)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Mousy, I'm stopping by later. You don't have a choice. We're talking.

**►Inthretis**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Woohoo! She lives! Hows our favorite larger-than-life mouselord?

**►Aloha**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Just came in to comment that I find it horribly amusing that of all people to add to the Outcasts growing lesbian harem we now have Mouse Protector. Be sure to keep them laughing Mouse!

**►Whitecollar **(Cape Wife)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

what? is mouse protector officially with the outcasts now? when did this happen?

**►Nullumiuris**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Um, I don't think it has? I think Aloha is jumping to conclusions.

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■

**Topic: A New Thread  
  
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay ► Darwin OP?  
  
GstringGirl ** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jul 27th 2011:  
  
So Darwin can apparently resurrect people now. Anyone else intrigued by this? Cause I gotta say: That thing with Bonesaw was not Mouse Protector. Then it was. And now Mouse Protector is apparently sheltering with the Outcasts and posting on a different board.  
  
So, is Darwin bringing people back from the dead or did Bonesaw just mess up Mouse to an insane degree? Thoughts? There's also how she can apparently rudimentary command Monarch's things like Queen but only by talking instead of doing it mentally...  
  
**(Showing page 30 of 108)**

►**BreathofFire (Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast) (Verified New Leaf)**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I am getting so sick and tired of explaining this AGAIN. Darwin DID NOT RESURRECT MOUSE PROTECTOR! Stop saying that. GstringGirl has already apologized for her bad usage of terms, now will you STOP REPEATING IT!

**►TassieD**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

You can't blame them for being curious. It's been over a day and she hasn't been seen in public nor is she known to be particularly active. I'm not supporting the idiots, I'm just saying, you can't really blame them when it's been all quiet on the western publicity front.

**►Soundbite **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

She was a captive for months and had been mutilated. Excuse us for not pushing her to jump right back into things.

**►Firebear**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

She could go to the Protectorate or PRT instead. No offense, but they have more resources than a group that just started out a few months ago.

**►Soundbite **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I'm going to assume you don't mean to be derogatory with your comment and respond as politely as I can.

Many of the Outcasts have some minor or major quibble with the PRT. We are perfectly content to work with them, but if one of the people taking Asylum with us requests to be left alone and not brought to PRT doctors, then we feel absolutely no urge to force that issue. We acknowledge they mean well. We do not believe they always DO well. There is a difference. If Mouse asks for PRT assistance we will reach out for PRT assistance.

**►Point_Me_@_The_Sky**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Guys, back off. New Wave does the exact same thing as the Outcasts are doing.

**►LaserdrillToPierceTheHeavens **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Confirmed. If someone asks for safe harbor, New Wave gives safe harbor assuming you are not a villain. Even then, if there is a damn good reason we'd be willing to hear you out.

**►BuildABetterButterfly **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

You would? Wow...that's new. Things have changed since I left.

**►PhotonMom **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

You should come for dinner more often sweetie. We're getting out our issues. You might be surprised. Your mother has mentioned she'd like to clear the air too.

**►Miss Mercury **(Protectorate Employee)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Nice to see that Family Drama is prevalent even among Capes.

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**(Showing page 91 of 108)**

►**ⓢ♄ꍏρ€☈ ⊙Ϝ Ϝ↳€ⓢ♄**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

♔⊙♫ꍏ☈☾♄ T♄♗♫ϰⓢ ꍏ♔☿ ♄⊙ⓢT ⓢ♄⊙☋↳◗ ꍏTT€♫◗

**►Tin_Mother **(Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

How do you keep getting unbanned?

**►ⓢ♄ꍏρ€☈ ⊙Ϝ Ϝ↳€ⓢ♄**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

♔⊙♫ꍏ☈☾♄ ω♗ⓢ♄€ⓢ Ϝ⊙☈ ♔⊙☈€ ☾ꍏ♫◗☿! ⓢ€♫◗ ♔⊙♫ꍏ☈☾♄ ☿⊙☋☈ ☾ꍏ♫◗☿!

**►MousyMouse **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

So not only has Monarch stolen and eaten my secret sorrowful candy stash, it is apparently now demanding new candy from the internet. What sort of monster have I created?!

**►Tin_Mother **(Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Seriously, _how_ do you keep getting unbanned?

**►Space Zombie**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Monarch has a PHO account...Oh dear lordy…

**►Bagrat **(Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

So there's apparently a GoFundMe for sending Monarch candy...How in the FUCK does a mutant butterfly setup a GoFundMe?! And more importantly how on God's Green Earth does this thing already have over a thousand dollars?!

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Darwin, get ahold of your butterfly before I get home or that thing and I are going to have _words_.

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Sexy words?

**►Sothoth**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

This thread just became even more awesome.

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■

**Topic: A New Thread  
  
In: Boards ► Capes General  
  
Weld ** (Original Poster) (Wards ENE) (Verified Cape)  
Posted On Jul 27th 2011:  
  
So I've seen rumors that Glory Girl has rebranded. Does anyone have this official? Most main channels are fairly silent on the matter and my superiors just shrug when I ask.  
  
**(Showing page 1 of 4)**

►**Point_Me_@_The_Sky**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

It's official. New name is Sanctuary. New costume is mostly the same but with oranges and purples in addition to the white. There's also no tiara anymore.

**►WagTheDog**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Oh so that was CDB I saw yesterday. Huh. I didn't even realize it because she didn't live up to her name. Maybe the woman has finally figured out a setting other than "Rawr, Smash!" now?

**►Point_Me_@_The_Sky**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

That's the idea, yeah.

**►Inthretis**  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

Wait, orange and purple? That's...that's Outcast colors. Has Queen nabbed ANOTHER New Wave member? Is Laserdream and Shielder next?!?!

I'm not sure whether to be impressed or terrified. No wonder the Nine are in Brockton Bay. This teenage girl who can call down a biblical plague of locusts is apparently hoovering up EVERYONE in the entire city! You all just watch, she's going to end up with a former member of the Nine on her roster before this is all over.

**►LaserdrillToPierceTheHeavens **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

My cousin is affiliated with both cape groups at the moment. Due to personal concerns she is hesitant to stick with the Outcasts permanently. In the meantime, she's actively working with both them and us until she can finish sorting out some things regarding her power.

**►PhotonMom **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I hope you got your cousin's permission before you shared that.

**►LaserdrillToPierceTheHeavens **(Verified Cape)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

You are literally in the next room, you could talk to me, mother. And yes, of course I did.

Unless things change rapidly though, no one else is jumping ship. Darwin and Sanctuary are special cases with very different reasons for their feelings. Speak to each privately for further details as that's all we'll say on the matter.

As to the Queen grabbing an S9...really? I've met the girl, had lunch with her, teased her about her girlfriend. She's not insane.

**►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf) (Brockton Outcast)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

You're underestimating her. She can totally convert the Big Bad Nine Wolves to become cute cuddly little puppies. How do you think she recruited us all?

Gotta be a girl though for her harem. Bonesaw is dead already and Sibby is an insane yandere sooo, maybe Shatterbird? She could fix our windows pretty easily at least.

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 27th 2011:

I will put spiders on you while you sleep.

**End of Page. 1, ** **2** **, ** **3** **, ** **4**

■

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Monarch’s Lines read as follows: “Monarch thinks Amy Host should attend.”
> 
> “Monarch wishes for more candy! Send Monarch your candy!”
> 
> Fanfic Rec: ‘Retry/Reload/Respawn’ by Avantre. On SB and also have a tvtropes page. Taylor gets stronger with each death and becomes immune to each thing that kills her. She is also actively TRYING to die yet is totally unable to. It crosses the line at least twice and is beyond hilarious. Tattletale's reaction and just utterly giving up to Taylor's death wish and cheery reaction to anything that has the possibility of killing her is amazing. Only four chapters, but they are glorious.


	39. Desecration 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thanks again to my beta Grey Raven 09 for his assistance! I couldn't find any official names for Mouse Protector or Manton's daughter and I have no idea if there is fandom agreement on fanon for them like there is with some aspects of HP fanon. So I've just chosen names that seemed semi-appropriate.

**Desecration 01**

"Can you please run that by me again?" I asked resisting the urge to slam my head against the table. It was too early for this.

"Your pet butterfly ate my secret snacks again. I would…I'd really like some snacks. Nerds and Skittles preferably. It's weird, I know. Some people go for ice cream when they're sad, I go for junk food. It helps," Karen said, her hands folded carefully across her chest and very carefully not looking at me or the people in the living room. "Is it alright if I ask for snacks?"

I sighed. "Karen, you're a guest and you've not exactly had a stellar experience the past few months. You can ask for whatever you want. Monarch won't eat any more of your things." I aimed the evil eye at the menace and shouted, "_right Monarch_?!"

A buzz from the living room was my reply and I nodded. "Good crazy bug." I looked back at Karen, "Are you sure you don't want anything else? Tea always helps me."

"What I want is to fight," she murmured. "But I can't go out there. I just…I can't. Not while the…not while _they're_ still here. I'm sorry to impose. I know I'm like twice your age and here I am acting like a scared little mouse afraid of the big cat outside her hole."

"I'd be terrified too." I reached over the table and gently took her hand. Her eyes lifted from contemplating the tile to meet mine and the ghost of a smile showed through her features. "Did talking with Hannah help?"

"A little. We were in the Wards together back in the day, did you know?" She paused and her smile spread a little wider. "I was worried that she'd pull away. But she didn't. It's…nice."

"Why did you think she'd pull away?"

Karen grimaced and lifted a hand to run it through her hair. "I used to be a redhead. Now I'm a brunette thanks to that bitch. And yes, yes, I know, you said 'Amy can fix it' but I don't know if I _want_ it fixed." She let the lock drop and shook her head. "My power is all weird because she could fully take out Laura from my head and now beyond my power, the only thing that even shows Laura existed is my hair. Those _fucking psychotic bastards _erased her from the planet!" Karen slammed a hand onto the table and it was only through years of experience with my father's temper that prevented me from flinching back. As it was, I heard some people in the other room shift and quickly arranged a group of flies into a thumbs up for them.

"I get it." We really needed to recruit a psychologist…"Karen, you do know that Laura hired the Nine to kill you right? I mean, it's horrible what they did to her, but, well, I don't really have all that much sympathy for someone who sends the _Nine_ after someone."

Karen sighed. "It's complicated, Taylor. Laura and I were a cluster trigger. We tended to go through phases where we hated each other as often as we were friendly neighborhood nemeses. She was just pissed when she contacted the Nine. She sent me a message trying to warn me after she cooled down, but by then it was too late. I tried to find her and help, but they had already gotten to her. Laura could be a bitch, and she took things way too far, but she didn't deserve that."

"Okay."

She smiled and shrugged, a sheen visible over her eyes. "Like I said. Complicated."

"You know, one of our friends was talking to someone. She might be able to help."

"No PRT people. I don't like them. I don't agree with their methods and there's something funny about Director Costa-Brown. She pings on my radar, but I've never touched her. So that means she's hiding that she's a cape, 'cause I only mark capes. If the PRT head is a cape…the entire system is a lie. If your friend knows someone else though…"

"I'll see what I can do. And in the meantime, I'll get you some more candy." I stood and smiled at her as I headed off to the living room.

"Thanks, Taylor. Being Mouse Protector online is easy. I'd like to get back to being Mouse when not behind a mask too."

"We'll get you there Karen. I promise."

* * *

I dropped into the couch with a murmured grunt and shut my eyes, letting my senses expand out to check in with my roving swarms before pulling back to the room. "Any word from my father or Dinah yet on Jack's plans?" I asked.

"Nothing yet," Cassie replied. She poked my arm and I rolled my head towards her. "You okay? You're looking a bit strung out."

"Just tired. The thing with Siberian being a rogue shard has me a bit freaked out. QA said that we shouldn't directly fight her. It. Whatever."

"Yeah, about that," Lisa said walking in and pushing me to the side as she sat down next to me. "Dragon, Armsy, and I have been tossing a few theories back and forth. Vicky's shard mentioned that Siberian was bonded to Manton, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"So, we have two main theories. Both are equally plausible really, especially knowing that she is a runaway power expression. So option 1 is that Maria Manton triggered at some point and her power basically…ate her, for lack of better words. Based on our talk with QA a few weeks back, there's precedent for that with Ash Beast so it's possible. She also dropped off the face of the Earth right around the time that Siberian started showing up."

Cassie frowned. "I thought Manton's daughter died. I was just a kid, but I could've sworn I remember there being something on the news."

Lisa nodded. "Yeah, but therein lies the rub: nobody ever really verified it. There was no body, just a tombstone."

"I can confirm that," Dragon's voice spoke up from our tv as it flipped itself on and an avatar of the AI tinker popped up.

I rubbed my temples and cocked my eyebrows at the screen. "Can you turn on _all_ of my appliances?"

"You did say I could come over whenever I wanted," she said smirking. The smile dropped away and a shoulder appeared in view just long enough to give the impression of a shrug before her head was left filling the tv again. "And no, just this one and the one in the basement. Lisa said I should listen in to provide input. I also have news, but it can wait for the moment. She is correct, by the way, the timings are quite suspicious with Siberian and Maria; and there being no body was never explained. Her passing was reported to be due to a bad reaction from medicine she received during an illness. It should not have prevented her body from being buried."

I leaned forward and narrowed my eyes. "Okay, yeah, that does sound strange. Why aren't we running with that theory?"

Lisa shifted beside me and winced. I turned and reached for her hand, squeezing it as she avoided looking at me. "This is going to sound stupid. I don't think she breathed while talking to you."

"Wait, what? What in the hell does that mean?"

Lisa shook her head and finally raised her eyes to meet mine. "Dragon and I went over the camera footage of that 'talk' a hundred times. She can't see anything, but my power is telling me there's something there. I can't _quite_ find it, and I'm not pushing it because there's not enough and if I push it with bad data, I'm going to go down a rabbit hole that leads to crazy shit that doesn't help. So I'm sticking to the surface stuff that I _know_ I'm right about."

"I still can't confirm this, Taylor. The footage is not clear enough," Dragon chimed in.

"Not for you, Dragon. It was for me. For my power at least."

"And you are emotionally invested, so it's possible that you are seeing something that isn't there." Dragon sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm playing Devil's Advocate here. We need a dissenting opinion and Colin isn't exactly helping either way. This isn't his field no matter how you look at it."

"Will you two stop arguing and just say it already. You're both smart bitches, we get it, now what's the idea?" Cassie grunted. I snorted in amusement and Dragon and Lisa both smiled and rolled their eyes. "Also, has no one asked Dinah which of you is right?"

Lisa and Dragon both looked at each other and groaned almost simultaneously. "Tunnel vision," Dragon replied. "I'll make the call after. Lisa, why don't you continue first."

"Okay, so, even Alexandria has to breathe right?" Lisa said. She didn't bother to wait for a reply and just soldiered on. "The only people who don't are Breakers, but no Breaker is in a _permanent_ Breaker state. They might be Changers, but even Changers breath, if only because of remembered reflex. Siberian doesn't seem to have even that. So, what if she _never_ did? What if instead of being a shard that took over the host, she's instead a _projection_ that took on a life its own? Projections don't follow human rules or ingrained human mannerisms."

My eyes narrowed at that and I pulled a group of bugs together. "QA, does that make sense? Like what you were back as Hive?"

The humanoid cluster frowned and crossed its arms. "Both options are possible. I would need to network with it to know for sure, but networking with Stinger is a bad idea. Stinger was Thinker's version of Sting. Its core designated role is to kill us. It's not as efficient as Sting, Thinker never was a true fighter, like Warrior, and didn't update it from Warrior's template often enough. But…it's good enough. It's obviously shackled to a degree by Manton. Taking over its host would make sense, but being a projection would function just as well, depending on the mindset of the host at connection and the final expression."

"Fascinating," Dragon muttered. "And can you tell who the host is?"

"The host is Manton," QA shrugged.

Lisa groaned. "If ever we wanted proof you weren't fucking human…Okay, let's try this again, _which_ Manton? William Manton disappeared around the same time his daughter supposedly died. It could be either of them."

QA frowned deeper and its arms dropped to its sides. "The host is Manton."

"Aren't you supposed to be smart?" Lisa grunted.

"QA is doing the best it can," I murmured running my thumb along the back of Lisa's hand. "QA, is the host male or female?"

"I don't have that information Taylor. Hosts generally aren't considered to be important enough to have such extraneous data attached to their tag. Only a rare few get anything extra added into the miscellaneous information and, even then, the link between host and shard has to be unusual. All I can tell you is that Stinger is attached to Manton Host."

I nodded. "Okay. Thank you for explaining. Lisa, Dragon, can either of you get me pictures of what both Manton's look like? If Dinah can't give a good answer I want to be prepared. If Siberian is a projection we might have better luck taking her out because I can have clusters search for both and, whichever Manton it is, I can find and kill them."

Cassie held up a hand. "What if Option 1 is correct and Daughter Manton was changed directly?"

"Then we have much bigger problems taking her out," I said grimacing. "Because how the fuck do you kill Siberian directly?"

"Even if Stinger is a projection," QA said shaking its head. "You can't just kill Manton. That will destroy the host's expression yes, but it does not take care of the root problem. Stinger will still exist, and it will come back once it finds a new host. The expression may be different next time, but it matters not. Kill the host again and again and again - unless you kill Stinger itself, it will eventually win by sheer attrition."

We all fell uncomfortably quiet at that. Finally, Lisa broke the silence as she asked, "So…how do we kill your species, QA?"

The avatar sighed and shook its head. "_That_ is a very complicated question. The short answer is to use Sting against Stinger. But I hesitate to recommend that, as it would draw Warrior's attention for certain. We could potentially destroy it by swarming it with a mob of lesser shards at once and overwhelming its defense and ability to attack us. There is precedent for this method. Not every gestalt had a version of Sting - and even then, Warrior's has been upgraded with knowledge from a species several generations back and it gives a major advantage over other versions. Using the overwhelming force option against Stinger would work well, but it would undoubtedly devastate the area. We will have to choose our ground carefully. I also can't do this with the current subservient shards. Cease is delightful, but it has limited combat potential. Shaper would be invaluable; however, it is unable to support such an attack by itself. We need more firepower."

_<Launch> will assist <Queen Administrator> and <Shaper> in the assault. <Stinger> is aberrant and a danger to subservient <Hosts>. <Launch> will network and combat as required._

I blinked and turned to my left. "Huh."

Cassie cocked her head. "You're staring at me."

"Your shard just said hello and offered to join the fight."

I could actually see her cheeks start to glow red. "Oh. It did huh? That's…cool. 'Bout fucking time it womaned up."

_<Duplication> will join gestalt as well. Taylor<Host> has greatly assisted Theresa<Host> in making connections. Connections are core to all functionality. Functionality has improved. Satisfaction has improved. <Duplication> wishes to return this assistance._

"Who the hell is Theresa and when I have helped her?" I blurted out frowning.

"Th-Th-Theresa?!" Dragon stuttered. "Where did you hear that name?!"

I looked at the tv and my mouth fell open. "Wait. Your name is _not_ Dragon? I thought…"

"I-I mean, I haven't _officially_ chosen a name-It was just a thought. Richter was a bastard and I rather hate him, but he _was_ my father, and…where did you hear that name?"

"I ugh…your shard just volunteered as well…It called you Theresa. Apparently, it likes me…" I rubbed my neck. "I kinda would've thought that it would be more invested in Lisa, Colin, and Madison than me honestly…"

_Taylor<Host> coordinated involvement of component units. Component units would not have met or worked to elevate privileges of Theresa<Host> without Taylor<Host>. Taylor<Host> deserves praise._

"Oh. Uh…thanks? You're welcome?"

"So it's not just my shard…" Cassie muttered. I glanced at her and saw her twisting her hands in her lap while her face was still burning red. "That's…fine. That's perfectly fine. No need to get jealous. Shut up brain."

"Envious. That's the word you're looking for," Lisa spat. "Jealousy is protecting something you have, envy is coveting something you don't." Her piece said, she flopped back into her seat while Cassie just stared determinedly at the ground, her face growing ever redder. Lisa in contrast held up the hand not clutched in my own so that she could glare at it. "Not going to volunteer too, power?"

QA chuckled as it looked at her. "Negotiator is, as your people would say, a little bitch. Don't read too much into it."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. My power sucks. Moody, bastard, annoying, headache-inducing power. Can't even be bothered to shut off and now it won't fucking volunteer. Stupid sucky power."

"I still care about you, Lisa. Even if your power doesn't," I replied teasingly as I smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She smiled back and nodded.

"Right, well, as, uh, _interesting_, as this is, I do need to inform you of something, Taylor," Dragon - Theresa? - said, cutting in. I looked back at the screen and nodded. "To cut to the chase, there was a break-out at the local juvenile prison, two days ago. Or more accurately, a _break-in_."

I frowned. "Juvenile prison. You don't mean…"

"I do unfortunately. Sophia Hess was freed. She was removed by Jack Slash, Crawler and the Siberian. Crawler rampaged in order to try and disguise the intent, but it wasn't hard to put the pieces together."

I fell back against the couch and closed my eyes letting my hands drop my side. "Fuck."

"It's okay, Taylor," Cassie said softly. "I don't know the full details, but I've talked with Madison enough. That bitch isn't getting to you."

"Why bother to go after Sophia? She's small game. Don't they already have their candidates anyway?"

Lisa shook her head and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against her side. "She's not a candidate Taylor. She's a test. Siberian wants to mess you up and see if it affects QA, Jack probably just wants to hurt Amy because she killed Bonesaw. It's not exactly a secret that you and her are friends or on the same team. That's basically the worst kept secret in the Bay. And anyone who knows about Taylor Hebert knows about Sophia Hess and the locker too."

I grunted. "A few weeks ago, I'd be pissed off beyond belief that Emma wasn't included in that too. Now I don't even know what to feel. Fuck."

QA shrugged. "She's one stupid girl, and Wraith is a fairly weak shard. Stay on the lookout. She can't do much."

Cassie slapped a hand against her face and groaned. "Thank you, QA, you just jinxed us. Thank you very much."

The avatar glanced between us all, frowning. It turned to Dragon and cocked its head to the side. "What did I say?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Hunter of Light' by Rhydeble. On Fanfic. A Taylor/Crystal fic. Per the official summary: "Danny is dating Kayden, Colin adopted Lisa, Laserdream is in love with Taylor, Grue has two arch-enemies and a sister-complex, Lisa is contractually obliged to seduce Panacea, Dragon wants to be Lisa's real mom, Annette "Lustrum" Hebert just wants her daughter back, Rune changed her Nazi-subtype, and Trainwreck turned himself into a helicopter." The summary is pretty spot on and it's hilarious. This is a bit of an insane crack fic, but it's highly amusing nonetheless and there are bits where things aren't cracky but quite serious. Daddy!Armsmaster with Daughter!Lisa for example are both adorable for all the right reasons and those parts are nearly always played completely straight. Also, Taylor/Crystal fics are VERY rare and it's sweet, even if Taylor is a ditz. Complete!


	40. Desecration 02

**Desecration 02**

Another bolt thunked into the table that I had overturned to hide behind and I snarled. "_Goddammit QA_! This is _your_ fault!"

"Murphy's Law is not a fundamental law!" my shard's avatar yelled back before dissolving again and reforming on the lawn outside. "Fuck, Stinger! If you want to fight, then stop holding on to the fucking host and _fight_!"

"But this is so. Much. _Fun_." The whispered words came floating down to me in that horrible echoing voice of the Siberian's. I growled.

"Taylor, any luck?" Lisa drawled with a forced calm from behind her own end table, also riddled with bolts.

"Fucking bitch has Siberian's immortality," I spat. "None of my bugs are working and Monarch can't make anything that would work against that. _Where the fuck's Clockblocker_?"

"Five minutes out," Madison cut in over my earbud. She was at least staying in the basement like I told her to. "He and Vista ran into Burnscar and they're having to detour. She's at least not making a mess of the area so…well there's that."

"Good." I refused to move the clusters of bullet ants and wasps I had on Sophia despite the bitch shrugging off their movements. She wasn't even going into her Breaker state, she didn't need to. She was just shooting more and more crossbow bolts at me and grinning like a loon the entire time. The bugs were mostly just to block line of sight and act as a deterrent. As long as Siberian needed to stay holding Sophia, the psychotic monochrome bitch wouldn't come into our home directly. As much as I hated Sophia and would've loved to have the bullet ants or black widows bite her…it was better this way.

That didn't stop me from searching with all of my roving clusters for the supposed Master. Just because I couldn't kill 'Manton' didn't mean I couldn't knock him (or her) out when I found them.

The air cracked and I sucked in a breath as Karen popped into existence next to me. A bolt thunked into the table and she twisted her head glaring at the sound before snorting and looking back to me. "MM and Armsy are on their way along with Assault and Battery."

"Any idea why this bitch isn't actually attacking?" I spat as another bolt slammed into the table.

"I'm trying to actively forget any memories I have of being around the murder hobos thank you," Karen responded with a scowl. "And _nobody_ knows why Siberian does anything. Only Jack can even get half a grip on her. She seemed to have a soft spot for Bonesaw to some degree. Why she isn't just killing Amy and then toying with you instead of this bullshit with SS? Hell if I know! Playing with her food, maybe? Maybe she's taking my joking about being a cat to the extreme. I was a half-brain-dead corpse, I'm not a wealth of information on that front!"

"Okay, I'm sorry I asked!"

"Queen! Is this one of those talky bugs? Hello? Can you hear me? Queen!" Clockblocker's voice shouted in my ear and I hissed, reaching up to adjust the volume on my earpiece as I shifted some of my attention towards him. He was clutching a large beetle towards his head as he ran down a back alley just a few blocks away.

"It's not a talking bug, Clock, use your damn Bluetooth. I'm searching for the Master so I don't have enough bugs to talk to you without the radio. What do you want? And where is Vista?"

"She's back with Velocity and Prism," he huffed out as he vaulted a fence and took a shortcut towards the house. He was close now. "Fuck I forgot how much faster it was to travel with her. Listen, Queen, something was weird with Burnscar!"

Another arrow thunked into the table. "Aren't you tired of cowering behind the wimps and losers yet, Taylor? Don't you want to come out? We can go at this like a _real_ fight! I can even promise to not use my powers! It's not like I need them to kill you, since you're just a pathetic weakling. All you have is bugs. You can't throw a punch, you can't block, you can't run. You don't deserve anything that's happened since you locked me up! I'm going to enjoy this so much!"

"Little busy Clock!"

"I know! That's why I'm dying here trying to get to you!" he wheezed. "Picked up a stray too. Flechette said she could help and Velocity was too busy with Burnscar to protest."

I buzzed the beetle out of his hand and shifted its vision to the side enough to see the white uniform running along beside him. Letting the bug settle back down on his shoulder, I continued. "I seriously doubt she can do anything against Siberian, but sure, why not, might as well have more people to this fucked up party."

"Listen, Burnscar, this is important!" He dodged around a garbage can and cursed as a cat jumped out. Instinctively freezing the thing in mid-air and wincing immediately after, he continued running. "Sorry buddy. Burnscar, she wasn't destroying the street when she saw us. She just looked at us, used just enough fire to hem us towards her, said she needed to talk to you, then complained it was getting hard to think and begged us to either knock her out or get rid of the fire! Velocity and Prism showed up as we were extinguishing the flames. I left Vista to try and talk them out of just outright killing her until we could figure out what was going on."

I frowned as Sophia continued to taunt me from outside, but my attention wasn't really focused on her anymore. "Why didn't you stay there if things were that odd?"

"_Siberian_, Queen! I'm basically the only one we know of who can even sort of counter her! Vista can take care of herself when she's not up against fucking _Bonesaw_! Nothing and no one can stop the _fucking Siberian_ except something that's _also_ holding a middle finger up to physics! You need me here!"

I couldn't fault his logic and I agreed with it entirely, we did need him here if Siberian decided she was done playing with us. "Okay. Make a left at the next lawn and duck through the side window. A Soldier will take down the plywood for you and Flechette."

"Got it!"

"Taylor, I've got eyes on Vista. She's standing in the street between Burnscar and Velocity. What do I tell her to do?" Madison asked.

"Use her best judgement. She's been doing this for a few years and I trust her. Karen, can you - "

"Got it. Mouse away!" The air cracked again and she disappeared.

I half-heartedly glared at the empty space where our guest had just been. "God I wish I had a mover power…or even just a cool catch phrase."

Before I could do anything else a hum filled the air from the speakers in the home theater setup. Funnily enough, the bugs I had _outside_ the house, heard a _different_ humming from the exterior sound system. I felt a warmth in my chest and my spirits lifted while simultaneously the thunk of arrows slowed to almost nothing. Frowning, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I got anything out, Lisa shook her head snorting. "That cheater. She recorded different suggestion tracks onto CDs to work along with her power when she sings…smart girl…And here I am thinking that _I'm_ the Thinker of the group…"

Paige. Mockingbird. She must be down with Madison. Oh I loved that woman.

Smirking I reached out to Monarch to see if it had come up with anything that might stand up to Siberian. It shrugged its metaphorical shoulders and just pumped out another set of Enhanced bugs, leaving them on standby in the other room. The Enhanced were awesome, but they'd probably freak people out once everyone realized that Monarch could bio_tinker_ in addition to bio_edit_ now…Not that they looked _all_ that much different from the warriors - or the eres-eris-erik-whatever Amy called them. A Soldier bug was a Soldier bug. Just like the Princess bug was a Princess bug. Only a crazy person would give them more complicated names - names that regular people couldn't even pronounce…

There was a muffled thud and my smile widened as Clockblocker and Flechette both skidded into the room and dropped behind the table next to me. Clock was breathing heavily, but Flechette was only slightly panting. "Made…it," he wheezed. "Plan?"

"If the bitch comes in freeze the table. Then the couch, then anything else that can get in her way." I looked at Flechette. "Can you hit her with that crossbow? I'd love to show either of these assholes their own medicine."

"It's an arbalest technically, but yeah. I'm good with aiming and timing. Part of my power. I know Siberian has a kill order, but I don't know anything about the other girl. How big of a threat am I supposed to go?" The Ward asked peeking over the top of the table for an instant.

"She's working with the Nine and trying to kill me, and isn't afraid to hurt or kill anyone else here if they get in her way," I yelled at her.

Clock grimaced. "I've worked with Sophia. She's psychotic. I read her file when they made me team leader and before they officially transferred her. She's killed several civilians before. Some criminals, some they're not entirely sure of. She's also _let_ civilians die. If you can take her down…don't worry about whether it's lethal or non-lethal. She probably deserves it."

"Good to know I'm not the only victim," I muttered.

The exterior speakers squawked and died. Frowning I shifted my focus, my eyes narrowing as I cast another glance at Siberian. She was shaking a finger as she looked at me, thin steel rods dropping from her hand around her. She must have thrown them into the speakers. Why she had let it go on for almost a minute was probably the better question, rather than how she had been able to target our fancy hidden sound system.

Before Sophia could resume her spray of projectiles, Flechette stood and passed her hand over the rod loaded into her arbalest before quickly firing off a shot towards the two. I watched the bolt rocket towards the Siberian, fully expecting the bitch to just smirk and bat it to the side. Instead, to my amazement, the monochrome monster's eyes widened ever so slightly, she cocked her head to the side and grabbed Sophia's crossbow, wrenching it out of the teen's hands and jerking it to the side. Flechette's rod was punching into the crossbow, as the Siberian continued pulling it to the side, the end of the rod stopping just to the side of the Siberian's cocked head.

She smirked down at me before shifting her focus to QA's avatar as Flechette racked another round in her weapon. "Well, well, someone has gotten smart. Well done, Administrator. I hadn't thought you would move to use such weapons so soon. And all for _me_. Impressive! Let's see what your commitment is shall we? Catch us if you can!"

Flechette fired a second shot, but it fell far short of its target as Siberian had grabbed Sophia and jumped. They landed on the roof of the house next to us, Sophia stumbling and groaning. Siberian grinned and jumped again, moving further away.

"Fuck that! With me! We're following them!" I snarled jumping up and charging out the back door.

"We're what?!" Clockblocker shouted.

Lisa was right behind him as she surged to her feet. "Taylor, think about this! It's a trap!"

"I don't care! Flechette can hurt Siberian so maybe she can punch through her gifted invulnerability too. We're following and we're killing the bitch! Flechette, move your ass before I lose track of them!"

She was already standing and running to my side. "Ready."

"Good. Let's go!"

"Wait, Taylor! Taylor, stop! Fuck, Paige cut the interior music!" Lisa yelled, her voice frantic. I ignored it. I could deal with placating her later. I had a bully to kill and a runaway shard avatar to neuter.

* * *

Flechette, Clockblocker, and I were already halfway down the block by the time that Lisa skidded to stop in front of us with the car, a heavy scowl on her face and Amy in the backseat with a Princess bug clinging to the top of the car. "You stupid, idiotic, one-track _arg_!" She bared her teeth at us and her hands tightened on the wheel as we jumped into the vehicle. I held up my hand pointing the way. I was just barely able to track the bugs on Sophia still.

"Hurry. They're getting too far away."

"_We shouldn't do this_!" she hissed as the tires squealed and we shot down the street.

"Might not get a better chance."

"This is a trap!"

"So call my father and have him send in Sundancer, Genesis, and the Undersiders. Redirect the Protectorate people coming to the house and ask for more backup," I replied. The Siberian and Sophia passed out of my range and I scowled. "They're gone. They were heading towards the docks."

"I _know_," Lisa growled. "I _already_ called Coil. Do you want to know what the odds are that we walk away from this Taylor? 50% according to Dinah. 50 fucking percent! Choose a different time to get suicidally overconfident!"

I frowned and paused. Glancing into the back seat, my friends' expressions were grim, but set in stone. Clock looked pale and Flechette was clutching her arbalest to her chest with her eyes closed, though she didn't react otherwise. Amy just looked angry. Twisting back to front I shook my head. "Those are good odds against the Nine and great against Siberian."

"This is a _bad_ idea."

"Do you really think that or are you just worried I'm going to get hurt again?" I asked quietly as we took a turn fast enough to push me against the door.

Lisa was quiet for almost a full block. Her eventual reply was barely audible. "Why can't it be both? Taylor, Siberian is a fucking rogue _shard_, she's going to _kill_ you when she's done playing her game. You can't fight her on her own ground. You have to surprise her. Choose your own battlefield. That's the only chance you have."

I reached over and squeezed her leg. She was so thin. If Siberian went after her the bitch wouldn't even need powers to break her. "_This_ is surprising, Lisa. We're not stupid, she doesn't honestly expect us to follow her even if she is baiting us to do it. We'll set her off her game by going after her now, and we'll have backup. We have a chance."

Amy leaned forward nodding. "Besides, something is weird. When does Dinah ever give such direct numbers? Exactly 50/50? I don't buy it. Something's going on and it's interfering with her even if she doesn't realize it."

"Agreed," Lisa murmured. "But even so, she's still going to be more accurate than not. Taylor, can you at least get Monarch to send more Eresimuses or Enhanced?"

"They're already en route," I replied. "Why do you guys have to keep calling the Soldiers that? I can't even pronounce it. At least call them Spring Bugs or something…"

"Spring Bugs?" Flechette said frowning. "Do you mean the pouncing things with wings and blades that killed Bonesaw?"

"Yes, she does," Amy said sighing. "And their name is Eresimus. It's scientific and it's accurate."

"So is Soldier and Spring…" I muttered. As we passed Palm Boulevard, my eyes narrowed to slits. "Turn right. They're at the docks. My bugs are off of Sophia, but they are still near them."

"How many are there, Queen?" Lisa - no Insight now - asked as she sat up straighter, her voice hardening and her entire demeanor seemingly shifting between one moment and the next.

"Siberian, Mannequin, Jack Slash, Shatterbird, Cherish, Sophia, and Crawler." I did my best not to wince at the gasps from the group behind me.

"Fuck me," Flechette muttered.

"We should abort."

I slowly shook my head. Before I could respond my phone rang. I pressed the answer button before it got to a second buzzer. "Queen, this is Dragon. If you or any of your team are near the docks, the Protectorate could greatly use your assistance. The address is - "

"We already know and we're nearly there," I responded, my voice devoid of emotion. "Do you know who is there?"

Dragon was quiet for a moment before she replied. "Yes. Burnscar is the only member that is currently not present. We have everyone responding that is able. Kaiser has already said he will send several of his remaining capes and Lung is making his way there as well. I have been in contact with Spitfire and Artillery as well. They are rendezvousing with several of the Wards and assisting in transport."

"This is outside the Nine's normal method of operation," I said.

"We believe it is in retaliation for the death of Bonesaw."

Lisa shook her head. "They've never been that pissed when they lost members before. It happens fairly regularly."

"Yes, but none of the people they've lost has ever been quite so _useful_ to them before." Dragon sighed. "Our thinkers are also of the opinion that Jack Slash is looking to cause a major incident here in order to whittle our numbers down and instill fear back into the populace and their defenders. This is as much a PR campaign for them as it is for us. We _have_ to win this fight, even if it only _looks_ like we win."

"So we have to kill at least one more before they run away, no matter how many casualties we take," I murmured. Nodding I looked down at the phone. "Dragon, tell everyone coming that if they can avoid taking immediately lethal hits, Darwin will be on the scene and we are considering this an emergency situation, so no charge for healing."

"Well thanks for volunteering me," Amy piped up from the back. I raised my eyebrows at her and she just rolled her eyes in return. "Yes, yes, I would've volunteered myself a few moments later if you hadn't. I'm still probably going to be focusing on building something if I can find enough raw material. Probably something that flies to try and deal with Shatterbird. Right now, the only real flier we have in the city is Artillery and she only tangentially counts."

"Crusader," Clockblocker chimed in. "His ghost things can fly."

"Crusader has declined to participate," Dragon said. "He and Krieg have officially parted ways from the Empire and are not assisting."

"Understood." I took a breath and let it out slowly. "We're about a block away. Do you want us to hold?"

"Wait one minute then proceed in. That should get you there at about the same time as nearly everyone else," Dragon said.

"Got it. Thanks for the call, Dragon."

"Good luck, Queen," she said softly. "My suit is on the way, but I don't know if it will make it in time."

"We'll hold the line, Dragon." I replied, nodding. "We'll hold the line."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Wounds Not Quite So Deep' by RedWeezard. This is on A03. It's a Taylor/Lisa/Rachel fic, set in a world without powers and without Brian really factoring in except in the backstory. Taylor has a minor run in with Rachel who saves her from a mugger and brings her home. Lisa patches her up and the two help heal her emotional issues with minor entertaining comments every so often from Alec. Her split with her dad grows as well when he determines that the runaways can't possibly support themselves without being criminals. It's quite adorable really and definitely hits in the feels department. In Progress.


	41. Desecration 03

**Desecration 03**

I had my eyes closed and was concentrating on moving my bugs into place up ahead when I felt Flechette reach past me for the phone lying on the middle console. Frowning, I opened my eyes and glanced down. She flipped open the phone and dialed a number, it only rang for a single beat before being picked up. "Miss Militia."

"Ma'am, this is Flechette, I'm with the Outcasts and - "

"Oh, you are? Well…that's good I suppose. Your tracker is offline by the way."

"Yeah, I may have forgotten to turn it back on when I followed Clockblocker. Sorry." She couldn't have sounded less sorry if she tried. I smirked despite myself. Rebels were always fun, as long as they weren't the crazy, murderous type of rebels. "Ma'am, if the Nine are clustering, why don't we just attack them from above? It's just Shatterbird on their end, surely an air strike would be better than risking this many people."

I shook my head. Flechette was new in town, she didn't know about Dinah yet, but Miss Militia certainly did and so did the PRT and the Protectorate as a whole. I was sure someone had called Coil to ask her if that would work. Even if someone was messing with her powers, I couldn't see an airstrike working well with Siberian in the picture.

"Our Thinkers shot that idea down, Flechette. Shatterbird has very good mobility and is able to destroy most missiles we could send against them at their current location. We would need tinkertech assistance to have a chance and if we go that route…"

"Siberian throws them back at us," Lisa said sighing. "She's done it before when they grouped up. It never ends well and usually winds up with a lot of people dead. Good idea, but doesn't pan out well in execution. If we can find the Master though…Queen, any luck?"

"Lots of vans and apartment buildings in the area. I'm searching most of them right now. There's nothing in a half-mile radius. I'm already extending it out to one mile but the wider the circle, the longer this will take," I said.

Miss Militia grunted. "I copy. Outcasts are you ready to move in? I was about to signal everyone forward."

"Ready as we're going to be."

"Roger," her voice grew distant as a click sounded from the other end. It seemed like she had keyed a radio. "All forces, move up. Commence Operation Subtraction."

"Really?" I muttered. "Subtraction? That's like one of the names I'd use…" Lisa shifted back into gear and we shot down the street.

As we pulled up to the docks a minute later we all got out of the van and my eyes narrowed as I stared at the group of supervillains sitting nonchalant on the benches, looking for all intents and purposes as if they were out for an afternoon stroll and decided to stop for a few minutes. I slowly walked forward to stand in a line with my friends to my right and the Protectorate to the left. Beyond them were Kaiser and several of his stronger capes as well. I even caught sight of Lung's metallic dragon mask as the man in question leaned against a building at the edge of the cordoned area.

"Jack Slash," Armsmaster said stepping forward to be slightly in front of the rest of us. "Release your hostages."

I sucked in a breath and narrowed my eyes. Muttering a curse under my breath I scowled. They had four people sitting with them. How had I…Fuck.

I was laser focused. _Too_ focused to be natural. Paige's confidence boost may have gotten me out the door when I probably shouldn't have, but _this_ was beyond that minor buff. I shifted my emotions and reset myself to a near emotional dead-state, the docks around me immediately grew clearer as I found my head clearing and my annoyance, frustration, anger, and sheer hatred just fell away.

As soon as my mind settled down, one of the girls - Cherish from the pictures I'd seen - raised her head and glared at me. "You're _cheating_. Jack, make her stop cheating."

"Now, now, sweetheart, none of that yet. Queen, my dear? Are you cheating in our little game before we even get started?" the bearded man asked as he stood with a small smile, flicking the knife in his hand open and closed.

"Tell your little bitch there to stop fucking with all of our emotions and I'll stop self-mastering to prevent her from affecting me," I shot back. Several of the people in the area glanced my way and swore as they realized what was going on. Several of my clusters took note of Heartsight standing behind Armsmaster with her hand on his back, her thin frame nearly completely hidden from view by his bulky armor. So, they were using Emma as a semi-counter to Cherish too. Less than fully effective apparently if the two of them weren't being yelled at but I was. Or the Nine just didn't care about them.

"So, it _is_ inherent to your powers. Interesting. You'd have thought we'd figure that out before coming here. I'll have to have a talk with Shatterbird about her research skills."

"Jack Slash, I will not ask again: Release. The. Hostages." Armsmaster ground out, his grip tightening on the halberd in his hands.

Jack sighed. "See that's really not how the game works, Mister Armsmaster. I _had_ had a whole weeks long plan here originally. We'd set up shop, kidnap a few people, torture and humiliate some others, probably kill a few every several days just to remind everyone we were still here, all the while we'd be running our recruitment tests until a candidate proved themselves, and everyone else died of course." His face briefly turned into a scowl before his features smoothed back into that near-ever-present smile. "But then Bonesaw died and Burnscar is off the grid doing lord knows what. She isn't even causing a mess! I thought I had trained her so well too…Ah well, I am no longer interested in playing my original game."

"So why not just leave instead?" Armsmaster growled. "Let those people go and get out of our city."

Jack laughed as did the other members of the Nine. Crawler's echoing chuckle from his multiple mouth was disturbing on so many levels and it sent a shiver down my spine. "Where's the fun in that? However, I do have a _new_ game planned! See we're going to have the Candidates step forward and then we're all just going to have a bit of a battle royale. Winner gets to walk away with us! Sounds like fun don't you think?"

"This is pointless, Jack," Armsmaster said, a scowl clear on the exposed portion of his face. "You have nowhere to run, your major survival tool has already been defeated and look at who is arrayed against you! Surrender now, give up the hostages and I promise I will argue to have you sent to the Birdcage instead of simply killed."

I winced. Dammit, he really was bad with people. Someone else should've taken the lead on this. I shifted my bugs for a better look at the surrounding people and frowned as I heard a dim whisper in the back of my mind. A whisper that didn't sound like QA or any of the other shards I'd been hearing lately either…

"Nah, see I don't think…" I tuned out the conversation and shifted my bugs again. The whisper returned. I couldn't make out what it was saying, but it sounded like it was asking for directions in a…muffled tone.

Experimentally I shifted channels and reached for Monarch. The whisper was there immediately.

Frowning, I flexed my fist. Whisper.

"Fuck me," I muttered. Heartsight glanced my way, but I shook my head just enough for her to refocus on Armsmaster. Instead I murmured around the corners of my mouth towards my teammate. "Insight, you said that Jack probably had a second power? One that lets him walk away from cape fights without a scratch?"

"Probably. Some sort of analysis ability. It fits all of the data Dragon and I found on the fights he's been in," she replied just as quietly as Armsmaster grew increasingly frustrated. I was running out of time.

"What if he can listen in when we talk to our powers? Or just do anything really since when you think about it, our powers seem to know everything about us and how we're going to react. Or _act_."

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "That…It would make sense. It would have to be almost subconscious though otherwise he'd never be able to react fast enough. I don't have enough hard data to tell you for certain, but that would work. How sure are you and how do you know? If you tell me the latter, I can probably fill in the blanks and tell you for certain."

"I hear a whispering that sounds like a shard, but it's not actually talking to me. It's like it's asking for answers that I'm automatically giving it. I think his shard is backdooring into mine. QA can you block it?"

A few bugs formed into a face just behind my head and whispers took over my head for a brief moment. "_Broadcast_," QA hissed. "Siege Engines can try to skirt around me, but _you_ cannot! You _will not_! You do not get to query my Host directly! _Your access privilege is revoked!_"

Abruptly the whispers ceased and Jack blinked cutting off his conversation with Armsmaster mid-sentence to stare at me. All humor left his face and he scowled again. "You do cheat, girl. Enough of this. I'm done playing. Candidates! Forward! Or we will - "

He didn't get any further as he had to leap backward as the ground in front of his feet exploded. The debris cleared an instant later and my eyes widened as I saw my father flying through the no-man's land between us and the Nine. He had rocket shoes on and a small rocket launcher on his wrist - which was likely what he had just launched at Jack. We all stared dumbstruck as Coil flipped in midair and threw a punch towards Jack while simultaneously launching a rocket towards Cherish. She squealed and tumbled backwards off of the bench. Jack fared far better; he just bent to the side dodging with almost nonchalant ease out of the way of the left hook.

Coil however ignored the dodge and ignited his boots again flipping over Mannequin and Shatterbird as they both lashed out, Mannequin with his arm and Shatterbird with her wings of glass. Coil grabbed two of the hostages and literally _threw_ them towards us. Aegis grabbed one while Victor managed to catch the second. Coil wrapped one arm around each of the other hostages and kicked off of ground surging back towards us as Crawler's tail lashed into the spot he had just vacated and one of Mannequin's arms shot out again, missing him for a second time. Jack's stab with his knife however did manage to pierce one of the rocket shoes which my father promptly kicked into Jack's face just before it exploded.

Coil touched down with both of the other two hostages - two preteens it looked like - barely five seconds after he had blasted onto the scene and I whistled. "You couldn't have looked a _little_ less cool while doing that? Or maybe been that awesome while coming to save _me_ one time?" Frowning, I rechecked my emotional balancing and muttered, "Fuck. Stupid seepage. QA, help more with the shunting until we kill Cherish."

"You can take care of yourself, Queen, they couldn't," Coil commented over his shoulder. "Run along kids. Things get messy from here folks. Insight, you might want to leave."

"Just try not to give me orders and I can manage," she responded tersely. "I don't abandon my friends."

Jack tossed his head, smiling again, and his hair flipped back blowing in a small breeze, the explosion from the rocket boot seemingly having done absolutely nothing to him. "Well, well, I must admit, that was rather impressive for a Union worker. What do they teach you in those things these days?"

"How to kill people that threaten my children. You've hurt my daughter and you're _currently_ hurting another girl I consider my daughter. You don't get to leave here, Jack."

"Big words." His smile grew larger. "You're a skilled little mouse, but we've caught a Mouse before haven't we, friends?" The Nine stood, smirking behind him nodding their heads. I felt a bit of rage creep back into my awareness at the mention of Karen and what they had done to her.

Knowing the attack was coming, I tapped my earpiece hoping Dragon had connected it to everyone present in some way. Just in case, I hovered several bugs near everyone's ears to pass the information along with as well. "Jack's a Trump. He can predict parahumans' attacks; it may not even be conscious on his part that he does it. When we move, be careful."

"Protectorate copies," Armsmaster whispered back.

"Wards copy," Aegis' murmured reply responded.

"Empire, understood," Kaiser said shifting his stand slightly.

My father nodded but didn't speak.

A grunt and slight head nod from Lung were confirmation enough from his part.

Jack was still talking. "You realize by removing the hostages we don't really have to play that second game anymore right? So…instead, let's just see who survives! Have some fun everyone!" He thrust his arm forward like some sort of demented drag race announcer and…things got chaotic from there.

* * *

Miss Militia and Coil both fired rockets into the Nine while Aegis, Dauntless, and Armsmaster jumped forward. Kaiser raised his arms and a veritable swarm of metal exploded out around Mannequin. Several Soldier bugs leaped over the van at my command and pounced into the fray. A grenade arced down along the rear of the fight and exploded sending a shout of pain out from Cherish and driving Shatterbird into the air. For a moment I thought we might actually be doing well.

Then the Nine countered. Shatterbird launched one of her wings towards Aegis before he could jump after her, pinning him to the ground. I tried to redirect one of the Soldiers to help him, and Dauntless twisted to assist as well. Both of us were too slow. Crawler casually reached down and snapped his primary mouth over the Ward's head, his large teeth cleanly separating Aegis' head from the rest of his body. I barely had time to process his body slumping over when Crawler finished rearing back up and shot a stream of acid towards Dauntless. The hero had screamed with rage when Aegis fell and charged towards the murderer while my Soldier pounced onto Crawler's back tearing into him with its blades. My Soldier's attacks seemed to have little to no effect and when the acid struck Dauntless on his helmet and breastplate it sizzled. I had just enough time to think that maybe the charges Dauntless had accumulated in them would leave him unharmed, when Crawler surged forward unbalancing the Soldier with the sudden movement. His clawed feet struck the breastplate and cut through like a knife through butter, blood spurting everywhere. A second stream of acid finished off the hero.

I growled as more shouting rang out around me. I was about to redirect several of my Enhanced to go after Crawler when a bestial roar echoed across the docks. Lung, scales already covering a majority of his body and fire wreathing his form, broadsided Crawler, nearly carrying him away as the momentum drove the two fighters over a hundred feet further from the rest of us. "Yes! Yes! This is what I wanted! More, more, get angrier! Hurt me!"

Armsmaster swiped at Cherish, but she dodged back as a blade of glass again lanced down. It cut him off from her and she just grinned, actually going as far as reaching up to pull down her eyelid and stick out her tongue at the local Protectorate leader. He surged forward again, his halberd swiping through the glass. Heartsight hanging back near the buildings with the other non-physical combatants shouted, "Armsmaster, you're compromised again! Overconfidence! Fall back and I can reset it! Kaiser you too! Depression!"

As Armsmaster halted his attack and tried to disengage, Mannequin almost seemed to slither forward, his arms extending and his body inverting itself, the 'feet' punching forward to try and spear the man. Armsmaster was able to bat aside one of the projectiles though the second one struck his arm and spun him around. I heard him hissing and scrambling to his feet as Mannequin reeled his limbs in to attack again. The bugs I sent to muck up the mechanisms were only partially successful, but the enhanced spider silk seemed to have a bit more luck with slowing the gears down. It would take time to fully stop the tinker monstrosity using just that. Time we might not have.

Coil shouted directions to several people leaving Insight wincing though she stayed standing and kept a running commentary as well. She was shouting out short, clipped bursts into her earpiece and the combatants adjusted their tactics as the two Thinkers fed more and more information to our team.

I saw Siberian off to the side just staring at everything and grinning wide. Why didn't she fight? What was she waiting for? I frowned as a Soldier died taking a hit meant for Victor and a second lost an arm as it blocked a glass wing thrown towards Miss Militia. Cherish was mostly amping our confidence. And Siberian, their ultimate trump card wasn't engaging yet. Jack was mainly dodging and grinning.

They were playing with us. They'd already killed two and they were just playing with us. They weren't taking this seriously. They would _refuse_ to take it seriously until they were endangered. Siberian was only going to get involved when we thought we were going to win and then she would just murder all of us.

Fuck. That.

"Amy, I'm giving Monarch full control of all of the critters here. I'm concentrating on finding Siberian's Master. Keep an eye out and let me know if I need to nudge anywhere."

"Got it. I almost have this gas thing ready. Should I hold off? It releases a smokescreen. Should help to obscure the battlefield a bit, but we'll need good timing to take advantage of it."

I cast my net wider and grinned. "Finish it, I know exactly when to use it." I tapped my earpiece again and continued, "Artillery, when I tell you, launch the largest, heaviest thing you can along the line of bugs I draw out. Wait for my word."

"Copy."

"Queen, this is Sanctuary, I'm almost on scene along with most of my family. Can you give me a target too?" Victoria's voice cut in as soon as Artillery's reply faded.

"How fast do you fly?"

"I can hit Mach 1 with a bit of room."

I looked to my right and Insight nodded. "I'll help with the timing. Sanctuary, Queen will give you a line to fly. Stay far enough out that you can hit that speed. Go for max impact CDB."

"For once, I don't hate that nickname," she replied.

I dropped into the swarm and spread them further. All of the buildings were searched and no one matched either Mr. Manton or Miss Manton. Now I just needed to go through the cars. I could do this. I had the -

Another scream sounded and Jack laughed. Velocity fell over in front of him, his chest nearly cleaved in half. I had one of the Soldiers grab him and haul him over towards Amy. He might not be dead just yet and Jack hadn't gotten his head so there was a chance.

Fuck the Master. We were brute forcing this shit. "Flechette, get ready to fire along the line I draw out. Sanctuary, Artillery, stand by." I grabbed Amy's new Fogbug as she let it go and shifted her hands to Velocity.

"Sanctuary, start your run," Insight said, wincing and grabbing the side of her head. I pushed the Fogbug into the middle of the running fight and triggered its reflex. Smoke immediately blanketed an area nearly 25 feet in radius as the Fogbug keeled over dead.

"Didn't have time to perfect it. Sorry," Amy muttered. "Fuck this is bad. Stop trying to move, you're making this more difficult."

I ignored her as I felt Mannequin shift positions. He could probably see through the smokescreen. Tinkers were such bullshit. Not that it would matter. Vicky may be trying to get better about a lot of things, but she was still great at one particular item: causing massive damage very, very quickly.

"Artillery, go," Insight spat falling to one knee and groaning.

While Sanctuary was flying inbound at about the speed of sound I watched through my line of bugs - which were quickly squished - as Artillery threw a gigantic chunk of concrete and steel through the air. Both ballistic missiles impacted their targets at almost the exact same time, Jack's shouted warning coming an instant too slow for either party to react.

Four of Mannequin's six terrariums shattered, organs spilling onto the wooden slats. Sanctuary wasted no time in lifting herself out of the hole in the ground and destroying the remaining two segments of the mad Tinker's body.

In the air, Shatterbird never even saw the huge chunk of Fuck You before it swatted her out of the sky like a - well like a bug. She tried to scream but I sent a stream of bugs down her throat to head it off in the second or two she had left. As the concrete landed on the docks, a distant squelch and spray of red mist spread out from underneath it.

The smokescreen dissipated and Jack was there scowling at me. "You girl, are an annoyance. Do you know how long it took me to get those two housebroken? Have you no remorse for what you've done?"

"Longer than it took me and my friends to kill them," I replied back a vicious smile on my face. "I was a few seconds away from killing my own father a few weeks back, Jack. Do you really think you're any different? Let's dance."

Siberian moved. Her pounce was almost faster than I could see but I had been waiting for it. The bug I had sitting in front of Flechette dipped down and she loosed her arbalest. The bolt struck home, embedding itself into Siberian's chest and with a popping sound, the bitch disappeared.

Jack sucked in a breath and glanced to the side. "What the fuck?"

"Found someone that could hurt her. Surprise." Satisfaction bled back into my awareness, but I pushed it down the link to QA. I needed to stay clear headed and couldn't take the chance that Cherish would turn this around for them at the last moment.

Kaiser stepped forward and raised his gauntleted hand. "As the girl said, Mr. Slash. It is time to dance." A line of metal flew into being arcing towards Jack. He nimbly danced backwards avoiding each one, though one blade veered off to the side. Jack lashed out with his knife and deflected it at an instant before it took off Cherish's head though he wasn't able to do anything about the gigantic monster dog that bounded onto the scene from the rooftop and grabbed her in its jaws, shaking the woman back and forth before throwing her violently to the side. Apparently Bitch had entered the scene. Cherish coughed up blood from where she lay as Jack snarled and slashed down, sawing through a hefty chunk of the top of the dog's head. It whimpered and staggered back moving away from Jack.

Miss Militia took up the assault and angled shot after shot towards the two members of the Nine. Jack managed to skip out of the way of several as he moved closer and closer to Cherish. When she shifted her gun to something heavier he finally just lifted his blade to swat at one of the rounds she fired. The ping was audible and I dove to the side as I saw the trajectory change. A hiss and spark behind me gave me a clue where the bullet landed and Amy's shout only served to confirm it. "Seriously! Again, motherfuckers?!"

I felt Siberian pop back into existence as her growl echoed inside and outside my head. I reached to the side and pulled Flechette's arbalest into the right angle. "Fire!" She fired and Siberian vanished again.

Jack screamed. "Fine! Take your fucking win, Brockton Bay! Crawler! We're leaving!"

"You go! He can hurt me! I'm having too much fun here!"

Nearly everyone on both sides of the battlefield stopped and stared at that proclamation. "Crawler that was not a request," Jack's voice was quiet, yet it somehow managed to carry across the entire scene.

"Hurt me! Hurt me _more_!"

The answering roar shot a pillar of flame into the air nearly 100 feet. "Time to leave," Siberian's voice echoed through me as she reappeared next to Jack and Cherish grabbing each and jumping away before I could redirect Flechette's weapon for a third time. Growling I turned to try and follow after them, but two hands landed on my shoulders pulling me back.

"Don't," Armsmaster said, his hand on my right shoulder. "They're retreating. We'll get them later."

"Dinah's already reported the chances being at 86.313%, Taylor. Stand down," Coil said his hand on my left. I glared at them both.

"Three of them are _getting away_," I spat.

"And we cannot kill Siberian, so they will continue to get away," Kaiser said walking up. "Let them be another city's problem. You said that Jack Slash can determine how a parahuman would react? That is good information. He will not be invincible now. Cherish is nothing for properly prepared capes. Only Siberian can provide any issues and we cannot counter those. You can't just have this girl hit her every two minutes. Let them go, Queen. We won this battle and trashed their reputation, don't go looking for another fight."

I glared at all three of them. "Battle's not over yet." Wrenching my arms away from the two behind me and turned to stare at Lung and Crawler. Crawler was still laughing as Lung grew larger and larger, his fire hotter and hotter. The dragon was nearly the same size as when he had fought Leviathan. I queried Monarch to see if it had anything that could help. There was apparently an explosive burrowing bug that it had been working on recently. That had promise. I tweaked the Princess' acceptable processing schematics and set it to work on producing those. Before it spit them out however, Lung literally flipped Crawler over his head and slammed the beast down onto the ground.

Crawler's eyes blinked and he could only stare up, a small smile on each of his many mouths as Lung leaned over and wrenched his mouth open. An instant later, Lung screamed out, a cone of white flame lancing through the length of Crawler, immolating the monster from the inside out, melting the docks into glass, and flash-boiling the sea. The area was covered by a rolling wall of steam for almost a minute and when it finally cleared, the ragedragon was left standing over a large glass canyon that was filling with seawater - there was nothing left of Crawler. The air surrounding us was still super-heated and several of the people standing closer to the fight were batting at their exposed skin, wincing at the red, raw burns that were showing. Amy was levering herself up with a scowl and limping towards the worst affected.

"Now, the battle is over," I said. "I'm going home to see what the fuck is up with Vista and Burnscar."

No one tried to stop me as I walked to the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'With Friends Like These' by TheMadmanAndre. Taylor triggers and the Endbringers shrink to pocket size to come help her out, becoming adorable in the process. She fairly quickly finds out that she can vary their size and their power accordingly. Coil is not amused with having to placate Endbringer Girl while Lisa is scared so far to hell that she loops back around to being amused. Armsmaster gets a clue, along with the PRT in general, while Sophia manages to get even stupider. Very amusing, fun and awesome. In progress, and actually updated just the other week!


	42. Desecration 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Lisa mentions a symbol for the Outcasts in this chapter. You can find the link here: https://i.imgur.com/xDPTiaD.png. All credit for this image goes to my beta GreyRaven09. 'Cause he is awesome.

**Desecration 04**  
  
"Are you gonna be okay?" I asked softly, kneading Lisa's temples with my hands as she lay her head in my lap. The car bounced and she grunted, shifting so that her head was pressed firmer against my thighs.  
  
"I will be in a few hours. Between my normal power headache and Coil lancing a knife through my skull just from being in the vicinity I'm going to need, like, _all_ of the migraine pills we have."  
  
"I can slow down if the bumps are too much?" Flechette said, frowning and easing off the accelerator.  
  
"No, we need to get home. Madison and Vista aren't answering my calls." I tried to push down the worry as I extended my patrols, calling more clusters home and sending them ahead. "Why _are_ you coming anyway? I didn't ask when you hopped in the driver's seat, but…shouldn't you be helping the Protectorate clean up the docks, Flechette?"  
  
"Lily…"  
  
"What?" The flower? What did that have to do with - wait. No. No fucking way…_another one_?  
  
"That's my name. I already know yours; it seems fair that you should know mine," she said shrugging. The nonchalance in her voice couldn't have sounded more forced if she'd hung a sign over her head.  
  
It was just a name. That was it. Nothing more. No need to read into it. Lisa sighed and reached up to squeeze my arm. Oh no.  
  
"I uh, I've kinda appointed myself as your unofficial bodyguard," Flechette - Lily - continued. Fuck. "Siberian seems pretty dead set on hurting you and apparently I can stop her for a few moments so…yeah. You don't mind do you?"  
  
I had picked up another one. I needed to ask Dragon for a line to the Birdcage so I could talk to Lustrum. I needed to find out how that woman had attracted other girls to her like catnip and how I could _stop_ doing it! Keeping my sigh inside, I nodded and just smiled into the rear-view mirror. "That's fine, Lily. Thank you for the support."  
  
"No problem. You guys haven't tried to push me away or sidelined me and you're actively including me despite having only just met me a few days ago. You'd be surprised how rare that happens in New York. Between my foster family and the Wards, I'm usually on the sidelines and that's if I can even get someone to hear me when I talk. Legend is a nice guy, but he's dead set on the 'adults' knowing what's right and he's pretty keen to keep us out of the fights."  
  
"That's not a bad thing you know," Lisa muttered.  
  
"Yeah, but it can be condescending sometimes. Especially when you don't exactly have a welcoming family to go home to…and now I'm just babbling. Sorry. Left up here correct?"  
  
"Yes." We were finally within range of the house and I started looking through the local clusters. Frowning, I shook my head. "I am not remotely comfortable with this. Burnscar is sitting at the table eating grapes and tracing out the patterns of the wood with Vista and Assault flanking her, Madison and Battery are on the other side glaring at them, Paige is sitting at the head looking mightily uncomfortable, and there's about six PRT troopers with foam backpacks standing guard as well. What the _hell_ is going on?"  
  
"Sounds like she's switching sides. Or trying to," Lisa murmured. She groaned and leveled herself up. "Time to go back to work. Fucking headache. Lily before we go in can you text Armsmaster and make sure Amy knows we made it home safe? She should be on her way back soon anyway, but no need to start a fight right now."  
  
"Will do."  
  
I turned to Lisa with wide eyes and a slightly gaping mouth. "Who are you and what have you done with Lisa? _Not_ trying to annoy Amy? The world must be ending."  
  
"Head hurts too much to get yelled at," she muttered. Then she poked my side and mock-pouted. "And I don't _always_ tease you guys. Just sometimes. And mostly just you now."  
  
"I could always hide the migraine pills," I commented with a wave of my hand.  
  
"You are a terrible and cruel mistress indeed, Taylor," Lisa responded nodding sagely, the ghost of a smile showing through.  
  
Lily chuckled as she pulled into the driveway of our home. "See this is why I like hanging out with you guys. Those sorts of jokes would _never_ fly back in New York."  
  
"Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies," I deadpanned.  
  
"Cookies?" Lisa snorted. "Fuck that. I have T-shirts with 'Best Haremette' being made. I can get you one, plus a choker with our symbol on it in two days."  
  
"We have a symbol?" I asked pausing with my hand on the door.  
  
"Yeah, though to be fair, it's pretty much just a Venus symbol multiplied…like a lot," she said shrugging.  
  
"Cause I have a harem," I sighed, shaking my head and climbing out of the van as I glared back at my girlfriend. "I hate you."  
  
"I know," she replied, smiling back and kissing my cheek.  
  
Lily walked around to stand next to us and scratched her chin. "White or black for that shirt?"  
  
"I hate you _both_," I said shaking my head and heading inside while the two laughed behind me. "And don't forget to get one with 'Best Harem Boy' for Clock!" I yelled over my shoulder eliciting more laughter. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I took a breath and shifted gears, pulling my cape persona back on. No more time for levity until I knew just what the hell was up with this situation.  
  
As I strode into the kitchen several of the PRT troopers shifted their weapons to cover me for an instant before nodding in acknowledgement and turning back to Burnscar. Vista waved and Assault sent me a small salute while Battery let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for ages. Paige looked like she was ready to jump up and hug me as she caught sight of me. Madison was the only one who didn't even acknowledge me; she just kept glaring at Burnscar.  
  
The - rogue? - member of the Nine in question looked up from her examination of the swirls on the kitchen table and smiled towards me. Her whole body was swaying back and forth as she sat in her seat. It wasn't a huge movement, but it was enough to be noticeable. I frowned as I took up a seat directly across from her and folded my hands on the tabletop. Lisa and Lily came into the room behind me, Lily taking up a seat at the other end of the table opposite Paige and Lisa sitting so that she could see Burnscar while I could still see her and get any cues she might send my way.  
  
"Do you mind if one of the troopers records this? I'd rather not give a full report later, so having them do this directly would be easier." She shook her head and one of my swarms let me see a trooper take out a camera and press a button as he setup a tripod. Once it was up and running, I began. "So, forgive me for being blunt, but I've been exceedingly busy for the past few hours and have no context as to why you are sitting in my kitchen, eating my food, and just in general not being dead. I am tired, I am out of fucks to give. What are doing here and why should I care?"  
  
Assault winced and Battery nodded. Vista grimaced though she had been around me long enough to see that I was just trying to cut through the bullshit so she didn't speak up. Burnscar for her part didn't appear offended at all by my approach. "You are far more direct than Jack."  
  
"Part of why I'm not beating around the bush. I got a bit of insight into how he cheats and after hearing him talk, I figure if you're here for why I _think_ you are, you might be tired of people talking in circles around you. So, I'm not going to do that." Lisa gave me a small nod as I finished talking.  
  
The corners of Burnscar's mouth lifted in an attempt at a smile though it seemed to abort itself halfway through, as if she had forgotten what it was supposed to look like. "I hate when he talks. He makes everything seem like a good idea. Everything. He always talks and I always end up setting things on fire and then it doesn't matter if he's talking because I don't care anymore." She swayed a little more and stared out the window. "Before he took me in, I did it because it made the pain go away. I didn't like what I did when I set things on fire, but if I set things on fire then the hurt and the guilt stopped so I did it again and I did it for longer. By the time I broke the cycle and stopped…Jack was there. After that it was…hard to remember why I ever wanted to stop with the fire to begin with. He always made it seem like it was stupid to want to stop and when he didn't…he always made sure there was fire around to keep the hurt down."  
  
My frown deepened. "What you're describing sounds an awful lot like how my friend described an addict's thought process to me. At least at first, before Jack Slash."  
  
She shrugged. "That's what the doctors said at first. Then they just made it hurt. Elle calls it the Bad Place. She's not wrong. It doesn't matter though. It doesn't change that once the fire starts, it doesn't stop because I don't _want_ it to stop. Even though I _hate_ it whenever it finally does…" She started studying the table again and traced her callused finger over some of the whorls.  
  
I turned to Vista. "I heard she was using fire to contain you and Clockblocker when the two of you ran into her?"  
  
"Less 'ran into' and more 'were found by'. Or something like that," Vista replied waving the word choice off. "She was looking for you and she found us instead. There wasn't…a lot of fire on the street, but there was enough that it was a bit worrying."  
  
"It was hard to think straight, but I needed them to stop moving so I could talk," Burnscar said so quietly I could barely hear her. "Once they got close enough I asked them to put the fires out so I could think better. I tried to hit a fire hydrant to make it easier…"  
  
Turning to Battery I asked, "Does that match with what you saw when you arrived?"  
  
She nodded. "It does. She was…calm…for a member of the _Slaughterhouse Nine_," Battery finished snarling. "That's the only reason she's not a smear on the pavement." Burnscar winced.  
  
Sighing, I rubbed my temples. "Fuck. This isn't going to go well if we keep up like this. What is your name? I know it already - everybody does - so I'm not asking you to reveal anything confidential, but I feel like we would get a lot further if we all stop speaking and thinking of you as 'Burnscar'. Telling us your name would help with that. It would, um, humanize you I guess."  
  
She lifted her head and focused on me, the swaying stopping. "Mimi. I'm…I'm Mimi. I don't…I don't like Burnscar. _Jack_ named me that. I used to call myself Firelight. The PRT started calling me Burner after I hurt that pimp by accident and then started hurting all of those people after I lost control to the fire, but…Jack was the one who made it _bad_."  
  
Madison scowled. "Bad? Bitch, you had a Kill Order before the Nine ever sheltered you."  
  
"So did Amy until the other week, Madison," I murmured, reaching out and squeezing her hand. Madison shut her eyes and let out a long breath, tilting her head to me ever so slightly. "There's precedent for fucked up powers. Limitations and oversight and such. I looked into it when some of our more ambiguous members came around."  
  
Looking back at…Mimi, I narrowed my eyes and met her gaze. "I am still unsure why exactly you are here however. You don't like Jack. Okay, great, nobody does, it's awesome that you've finally joined the club. Why come _here_? Why _now_? Are you just looking for an advocate, because I find that hard to believe."  
  
She winced and almost seemed to cave in on herself as she hunched over her gaze dropping back to the table. "Jack said we were coming to Brockton Bay. Elle was here. Elle and I were friends. At least…I thought we were. In the Bad Place. I said I wanted to come, because I wanted to see her again. He thought I meant that she was a candidate." Battery gasped and Madison nearly growled. Paige just dropped her head into her hands while Lily sighed and Lisa nodded. Assault and Vista were the odd men out as they both appeared sympathetic. Assault actually reached over to squeeze her shoulder for an instant. Mimi gave him her semi-half-smile thing in response before continuing. "I tried to correct it, to fix it, but then we passed by a different place and he started a fire and I got…distracted. By the time I could think again, we were in town and I was already almost at Elle's place. I…talked to her. I tried to warn her."  
  
"You didn't want to hurt her," I stated. Fuck. This made too much sense. Lisa was rubbing at her temples in frustration and holding up an inconspicuous thumbs-up to me. Fuck. If this kept going the way I was seeing…she was as much a victim as anyone else. I was going to end up having to put another goddamn target on our backs if I wanted to make this right. Fuck.  
  
"I _never_ wanted to hurt Elle," Mimi whispered. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. I didn't even want to hurt that pimp…I just lost control when the fire I was using to scare him got too big and he tripped and then I…I couldn't stop because I couldn't _care_ enough to stop…I can't…_I don't want to be like this_!" she cried out. Her hands slammed onto the table top and her head rose, her eyes locking onto mine with laser-like focus. "Please! Elle said you could help. I need…If you can't make the fire stop, if you can't make me _feel_ while I'm using it, then please just kill me! I don't want to hurt anyone again and if you don't do _something_ Jack will come back, and he'll take me and he'll set something on fire, or he'll talk me into it myself, and then I won't _care_ until it's too late! Please…I just want it to end…"  
  
One could have been forgiven for thinking my mouth had disappeared with as thin a line as my lips ended up forming. Fuck, she _was_ asking what I had been thinking. And I was going to fucking do it too. Fuck. The bugs in the room swirled into a humanoid figure as QA stepped up behind me. "Can you fix it?" I asked my shard.  
  
QA crossed its arms and I heard one of the troopers gulp loudly and another shift further away from the avatar. Neither QA nor I ever took our eyes off of Mimi and she looked between the two of us with a wide-eyed expression that wouldn't be out of place on a terminal patient seeing Panacea. "Give me a moment."  
  
<_Conflagration>, <Queen Administrator> requesting core access.  
  
Core access functions are not accessible post <Host> contact and configuration. What is <Queen Administrator's> query?_  
  
"Wow, just like that it defers to you?" I murmured. "Most shards give you shit about the 'Queen' thing."  
  
"Most shards are too independent for their own good with Thinker Hub mostly dead and Warrior Hub doing god knows what," QA replied. "Now shush."  
  
_Your ability expression in <Host> has been harmful. <Queen Administrator> seeks to correct the error._  
  
The silence was so thick I could've cut it with a knife. Finally, Mimi's shard replied.  
  
_Mimi<Host> is not harmed by ability expression. Heat sensitivity due to direct flame was removed, ability for Mimi<Host> to combust was removed. Mimi<Host> had difficulty utilizing any expression of local personal control of surrounding environment prior to connection, due to environmentals and mental contamination. <Conflagration> assisted with reducing mental contamination with ability expression. <Conflagration> was unable to affect full inherent mental contamination, but _could_ adjust mental contamination upon ability expression. <Conflagration> helped Mimi<Host>. Mimi<Host> has not been harmed._  
  
"Fuck," I dropped my head against the table. "Why do you guys have such a _hard_ time understanding us? You're literally in our fucking heads!" I ground out.  
  
QA sighed. "Emotions are not normal for us, Taylor. Generally, we can compensate for things like this by pinging off of others when we connect to a Host. She must not have been near anyone at her Trigger, otherwise Conflagration wouldn't have thought her emotions were issues that needed to be suppressed. Warrior should still have corrected it, but Warrior is…not in his prime."  
  
"Can you fix it?" I asked.  
  
"Not directly, not at this point. Her ability expression is already locked in. We'd have to completely core out her corona pollentia and rebuild a new connection point, but even then it would probably default to the original setup. I would need higher level access. Before I was restrained I could do it, but now, well now I would need to establish a new Hub to have the correct permissions…Unless…hmm…maybe…"  
  
<_Conflagration>, process incoming data for review. Data tagged as Human Emotional Response Information Primer.  
  
Standing by. Receipt acknowledged. Reviewi-_ Conflagration cut off mid-word and I looked up, cocking my head at Mimi. I barely even noticed the rest of the people in the room staring at me. The PRT troopers had moved closer and all of them jumped as the stove lit up seemingly on its own. An instant, later a ball of shot from the stove and landed on the table forming into a small humanoid shape that stared at QA. I idly had a beetle shut the stove off and waved the troopers down.  
  
"I can't feel that fire…" Mimi commented, the wonder in her tone nearly physically hurt me.  
  
"That's your shard, don't get your hopes up yet," I said, sighing.  
  
The Fire Man walked towards QA and stopped a few paces away from it, then looked back to Mimi. <_Conflagration> has harmed Mimi<Host>?_  
  
QA nodded. "I'm sorry, but yes." The fire dimmed to a dark red.  
  
_How can this be corrected? Core access to ability expression is unavailable. Access to conflict drive is unavailable. Mimi<Host> _must_ use abilities or mental degradation will occur as with all other <Hosts>._  
  
"Wait," I spat, twisting to stare at QA. "_Conflict drive_?! Mental degradation without power use? What the _fuck_ is this?!"  
  
"Later," QA said shaking its head. "Yours is already as low as I can turn it down without having direct access."  
  
"We are coming back to this," I growled.  
  
"Motherfucker," Lisa cursed. "They're fucking war machines meant to _stress test_ us!"  
  
"Not you, us, stress test _us_," QA responded as it bent down onto one knee and held a finger towards the fire avatar.  
  
<_Queen Administrator> has been able to impose specific limitations on <Shaper> after <Shaper> submitted to subservient role in ad hoc network. Theoretically, the same can be performed with <Conflagration>. Limitations would affect Mimi<Host>. Ability expression would be the same, but hard limits imposed. Mimi<Host> could use specific levels of abilities and higher levels could be authorized on an as-needed basis. <Queen Administrator> and Taylor<Host> would maintain ultimate control and could shut down ability expression if Mimi<Host> initiates any action she would be adverse to when emotional dissonance was not present._  
  
"I could do what now?" I asked, my voice a rather shrill tone.  
  
"Like with Monarch," QA replied. "Do you agree, Conflagration?"  
  
"Wait! Go back to how _I_ would have control of her power!"  
  
"I can't edit her abilities," QA said shaking its head. "It's either this or remove the corona pollentia entirely. There's no guarantee it won't grow back in a few months or years if we do that, even using Shaper. Conflagration wouldn't be able to stop itself and neither would Mimi Host. It's inherent to our nature. If you don't want to kill her, this is the only way."  
  
"Anything!" Mimi said leaning forward across the table, tears falling down her eyes and rolling past the cigarette burns on her cheeks. "Please! I don't want to hurt anyone! I don't care if you have control of my power. Please, just _help_ me!"  
  
"Fucking hell," Battery muttered beside me. "Why do I feel bad for a mass-murderer?"  
  
<_Conflagration> agrees with <Queen Administrator>'s solution. Health of Mimi<Host> is primary objective and data can still be collected in this fashion._  
  
The Fire Man bowed its head and went down to one knee, pushing its small hand against the finger that QA had extended.  
  
<_Conflagration> submits authority and administration access rights to <Queen Administrator>._  
  
My thoughts almost seemed to _burn_ for an instant as a new 'channel' opened up in my mind. Just like with Monarch, I could switch mental 'frequencies' and suddenly Burnscar - no Firelight - was there. She was staring at me - and I was staring at me through her eyes. I felt my - her - hands come up to her - my - mouth and she gasped. The Fire Man jumped back to hover over her palm, then collapsed back into just a ball of normal flame. I felt the awareness of the fire enter my purview, but it was…muted. She increased the flames and the world drowned out more.  
  
Except it didn't because I could pull back and still remember how _I_ was feeling. I narrowed my eyes and shut off the flow of Firelight's power. The fire instantly went out and she clapped her hands. "I could feel the echo of you," she said, that half-smile showing on her face again. "And I felt you force me to stop! There was an upper limit too! I've never had an upper limit before," she spoke, the swaying back and her eyes focused on the ceiling. "I…Even if you're not around to shut me off, I still can't get lost enough to drown in the fire anymore…Elle said you would fix me…You fixed me…You fixed me…"  
  
"Well done, kid," Assault said whistling as he stared between Firelight and me. "I have no idea what just happened, but well done."  
  
"QA basically made her shard into Monarch 2.0, but with more restrictions," I said groaning. "This is so deeply disturbing on so many levels I don't even know where to start. And _you_," I growled turning to my avatar, "we are long overdue for a conversation on just _what you are_!"  
  
"Yes. We are. Perhaps we should move to a better location with less - " QA cut off and turned its head snapped to stare at the wall. I scowled. If it thought it could get out of this conversation by distracting me, it had another thing coming. Before I could start to yell, QA shouted instead. "Get down! It's Broadcast!"  
  
I moved on instinct. I lunged to the side and knocked Madison to the ground just as the wall leading outside exploded inwards. We hit the ground as a piece of stucco impacted my back sending a shot of pain up my spine. I heard muffled grunts and squeals of pain from the others. Containment foam shot over the table and fire burst into being, flying towards the hole in the wall. Assault launched himself forward, Battery right behind him. I was grabbing several of the Enhanced and Soldiers from the basement and garage, all of them pouncing towards us.  
  
None of it mattered. Because instead of Jack, Siberian ran through the gaping hole in our house. She batted the two heroes aside like they were nothing more than paper, both Assault and Battery flying into the walls on opposite sides of the house and slumped down unmoving. She didn't even bother going after the shouting PRT troopers nor did she pay any mind to Firelight. Lily picked up a loose piece of rebar and hurled it like a javelin, but Siberian just side-stepped it with a growl. She picked up the oak table and tossed it; Lily shouted in pain as it fell over her, driving her to the floor. In less than three seconds, Siberian had decimated us. I had no idea where Paige or Lisa were and I was - about to be dead since Siberian's hand was already on my throat.  
  
She lifted me off of Madison, grinning. "Come to the roof of Winslow High if you wish to retrieve your damsel, little Host."  
  
I couldn't breathe in enough air to demand to know what she meant. Her grip tightened just enough to leave black bars at the edge of my vision. Then I was falling to the ground, my knees scraping on the debris, coughing, sucking in air around the dust.  
  
"What - the - _fuck_!" I wheezed.  
  
QA pulled me to my feet, leaving one hand on my arm and using the other to pull my chin up so that I was looking into its eyes. "She took Madison."  
  
My blood turned to ice. My eyes drifted to the side, focusing on the floor I had just vacated. There was just a small bloodstain where she had been lying a few moments ago as well as claw marks.  
  
Madison. My former bully. The nerd with a conscious. The only one besides Amy to actively try to help me at the beginning. My friend. She'd been with me almost since the insanity started. She was the only one stupid enough to stay near me while being completely without a power…and Siberian had taken _her_.  
  
My gaze snapped back to QA. We both scowled and we both nodded. "We're getting her back," we said in unison.  
  
No one took my people from me.  
  
No one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Number Girl' by Thinker6. Hosted on SB. This fic has Taylor triggering with Dinah's power which she immediately uses to make Emma into her friend again, giving herself a crippling case of "Don't look for a specific future" headaches while coming out of the locker. She then sets about blackmailing/breaking Emma in order to fix her while recovering. It's actually a really good look at just how messed up Emma is and shows really well how determined Taylor can be to her chosen path when she has a path chosen. Sadly, it seems abandoned years ago but what's there is very good!


	43. Desecration 05

**Desecration 05**

One of the PRT troopers ran up to me coughing from the dust in the air as I moved to the side of the overturned table. "I can help," she said, jamming her hands under the oak with me. Together we were able to get the heavy piece of furniture off of Lily, who gasped as the weight was lifted off of her. I looked down and couldn't help the scowl that crossed my features or the buzzing of the swarm that had gathered outside at my siren call. Her leg was broken and her arm was bleeding where a piece of debris had gotten wedged into her shoulder. She barely even looked conscious.

"Taylor," Lisa grunted, stumbling to my side. She glanced down and winced. "Damn. She'll be fine, but she needs a doctor. I found Paige. She's knocked out; it looks like some concrete smashed her in the chest, but she's breathing fine so I don't think there's any internal injuries."

I nodded. "Vista?"

"Here!" her attempt at a response was pained and I saw one of the chairs and several pieces of debris on the far side of the room fall to the ground as Vista levered herself up to a sitting position. "I tried to step away, didn't quite make it. Oh, this hurts. I don't think I can walk, something landed on my foot."

"Don't try to move, I'll take care of it." I turned to the trooper. She had to be the leader; she was the only one without a foam gun. "Assault and Battery?"

The trooper shook her head. "Battery is down, hard. Assault is…coming around. He sounds out of it though so I don't know how useful he'll be."

"Your name?" I asked, my eyes skipping across the scene. Two of the PRT troopers were down as well. Two others were helping Assault and Battery. Only one was watching over Mimi, who was in turn leaning against the counter and breathing hard.

"Danica, Ma'am."

"Right. Here's what we're going to do, Danica." I turned back to her and drew myself up to my full height, squaring my shoulders back and setting my mouth into a thin line. "You and your people are going to stay here and watch over everyone who is hurt until the doctors arrive. Vista can give you support and Firelight will as well. If Flechette wakes up, she'll help. This might just be a distraction, so when the doctors get here, get everyone out of my house and somewhere safe until I contact you. If Mouse Protector comes back here, have her stay to provide more security."

"And if she wishes to help you?" Danica asked.

"No, keep her here. Madison was kidnapped by the Nine. So was Mouse Protector. She could very well be a liability if she tries to force herself to help before she's ready. I'd rather have a capable, experienced fighter helping protect the wounded than getting in the way in the field."

"Understood, Ma'am."

"One more thing," I said looking to the side. Mimi had fallen to the floor and settled her back against the island, her eyes closed and continuing to breath hard. "No one hurts Firelight, no one takes her into custody. She's mine now. Your bosses will probably complain. I don't care. Tell them I threatened you if you have to."

Danica nodded. "Consider it done, Ma'am. Miss Hebert, what are you going to do?"

I bled off all my emotions into the swarm. While their buzzing increased to an absurd degree, my next statement was delivered in a completely deadpan tone as I said, "I'm going to save my friend. And I'm going to fucking kill the last of the Nine."

* * *

"Taylor, when did you get your permit?" Lisa asked from the passenger seat. She winced holding a hand to her side.

"Never. And you should've stayed. You're hurt too."

"I can walk, I can run, I can fight, and my head doesn't hurt enough to keep me incapacitated. You need _someone_ for backup and Amy, Dennis, and Armsmaster are still 15 minutes out."

I grimaced. "We really need a teleporter."

"I'll put it on the To-Do List," Lisa muttered. "Seriously, pull over, let me drive."

"I know _how_ to drive. Just because I haven't gotten the test since my birthday doesn't mean I didn't get the training."

"Could've fooled me." The car skidded around another turn and I blared the horn at the idiot in my way as I swerved around him. "Taylor, please don't kill us before we get there."

"I can literally drive with my eyes closed thanks to the swarm," I snapped. "Last chance, Lisa, are you _sure_ you're okay to go in there? The absolute last thing I need or want is to give them another hostage." I asked as I slammed on the brakes and the smell of rubber assaulted us through the open windows.

Lisa glared at me. "Madison is my friend too. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could help. You take care of Jack, have QA keep the Siberian distracted, and I'll find Madison and/or deal with Cherish."

I nodded and we got out of the car. I scowled as I stared up at my last prison. "I hate this place so much…How would she know to choose this building?"

"Either Jack did his research well, or we have more enemies," Lisa replied. She cracked her neck and let out a breath, Insight dropping over her mannerisms. "Keep your eyes open."

I strode forward, splitting half of my swarm off to search the building and the other half to find Manton. Siberian's Host hadn't been staying close in the last few encounters so instead of starting in and searching out, I'd start out and search in this time. A two-mile radius should be fine for an initial distance. If I didn't find anything out there I would just contract it. That was close to the edge of my range anyway and I had a hard time imagining Manton could project further than me. Everyone's privacy was being invaded with this search. No Miss Nice Queen. This was a quick and dirty accounting of everything around me as fast as possible. I was _going_ to find this fucker and I was going to make them wish they'd never even _heard_ of me.

Some of my swarm in the building died as it reached the gymnasium. I smirked. "Dead bugs, gym. How much you want to bet they're there?"

"Could be a distraction, but yeah, no bet," Insight said. She stopped and pulled me to her, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and squeezed hard waiting just long enough for me to hug her back before letting go. "Taylor, be careful."

"I will."

I pulled free of her grip and ran to the stairs, leaving small arrow markers for my teammate. I reached the roof faster than ever before and as the door banged shut behind me, I found myself glaring at the women standing across from me. "Sophia," I growled, my voice barely audible through the rage-induced _hatred_ that distorted my tone. "So, you decided to come back instead of running while you had the chance. Did you tell that bitch to take Madison?"

Sophia smirked as the Siberian, standing behind and to the side, smiled. "I just mentioned that you had a friend who used to be _my_ friend. Jack Slash took it from there."

"What happened to wanting to be a hero?"

"Oh I still want to be a hero," she said shrugging and taking a step closer. "When the Nine tell you to do something or die though, it's generally better to do it. Besides, the strong survive and the weak…don't. Madison was always just a scavenger hanging around real power to take what little scraps she could. She never had the chops to last in this shit world."

My eyes narrowed and my swarm flew up to surround the room in a sea of bodies. "If you've hurt her already…"

"Nah," Sophia said, her smirk widening. She took another step. Siberian just laughed behind her. "It would be so much more fun to make you watch as these fuckers hurt her."

"You hate me that much?" If I could keep her talking long enough…

Sophia's face devolved into a snarl and her fists clenched. "You ruined _everything_. I had it all planned out. I had it all together. And then _you_ come along and not only could not stay in your place at the bottom of the ladder, no, you had to flip the entire board. You got me sent to juvie you fucking bitch! And to top everything off, you stole Emma away from me too. Do you know how hard it is to find friends who understand that only the strong survive?! _Do you_?!"

I smiled, there was no humor in my expression. "You are just as insane as them, Sophia. And for the fucking record, Emma was _my_ friend _first_, bitch!"

"I'm going to kill you, you fucking cunt!" Sophia roared as she lunged towards me. I jumped back and had a good chunk of my swarm surge towards her. Better to just have my minions eat her face off now. I could figure out how to stall the Siberian after Psycho Bitch Number One was down.

Unfortunately, the plan didn't work out quite so well. As soon as my bugs passed the boundary of the roof, they started to die and I was forced to jump to the side as Sophia lunged towards me fist first. She snarled and twisted on her heel, her other foot lashing out to strike across my ribs and driving the air out of my lungs. I grabbed for the can of mace I kept on my belt and managed to aim it fast enough to spray it towards Sophia's eyes as she jumped towards me again. She screamed and danced backward, wiping at her eyes with her hands and sleeves while I tried to catch my breath and glared.

Siberian just chuckled as she looked at me. "Problem little Host? Are you perhaps looking for this?" She asked, her echo screeching through my head. Pointing between herself and Sophia, I saw a small little device blinking away merrily. "A bit of a present left over from Bonesaw. The radius is small, but it works rather well on all things below a certain biomass threshold, don't you think?" That was why my bugs couldn't enter the gym either. Fucking _bitch_!

I needed stronger creatures. I reached out to Monarch and called for my Enhanced. They were almost here already, following in the wake of Armsmaster, Amy, Clockblocker, and Miss Militia. A Princess was en route as well and it was flying next to Artillery and…Hookwolf and Cricket? Whatever. More muscle was more muscle. I just needed to hold out.

Why didn't I have any Monarch bugs with me as it was? I was home _with_ Monarch and - _FUCKING CHERISH_! I shuffled my entire emotional range to QA and the swarm and slowly straightened back up.

"Touché, you people really are subtle bastards."

"That is an amazing tool you possess," Siberian commented, cocking her head. "Do you even realize how few Hosts can push their operating parameters onto us?"

"Don't know, don't care." My eyes narrowed and I smiled as I found a van stopped just inside about one-and-a-half-mile radius of the school. It was suspicious in how _unsuspicious_ it was. No bumper stickers, tinted windows, perfectly clean, no personalized plates, no air fresheners, everything about it screamed 'I'm normal, don't look at me.' If I'd learned anything while spying on people and patrolling, it was that nobody has a car _that_ normal.

I sent a few exploratory bugs to thread inside the van and encountered a sealed system like I had only seen once before. Earlier that day actually. With Mannequin.

Found you. I redirected all of my divided swarm towards the van, leaving just the ones around the roof and in the building alone. It would take a minute, but they would get in. I could already find the weak points. A van needed to have some exhaust sections in order to function as a working vehicle after all.

I recentered on my body just as Sophia dashed forward again. She tried to punch me, but I was able to twist to the side and jab at her side. She just smirked and grabbed my arm before I even connected. I tried to kick her, but she stepped in and used her strength to throw me, leaving me bruised and gasping on the roof. Sophia followed that up with an elbow aimed towards my face which I was only barely able to roll away from.

"Stop moving you little bitch!" Sophia shouted. "Take your fucking beating!"

"Screw you!" I yelled back. Not super intelligent, but it was enough to have her gritting her teeth and kicking towards me. I was finally able to get my collapsible baton free from the belt as I rolled and I knocked her foot away leaving her off balance. As she stumbled, I scrambled to my feet and lunged for the blinking device. The Siberian just laughed and stepped forward, flicking a hand on my chest and sending me flying back into the brick near the door.

I gasped, losing my grip on the baton and breathing hard as I slumped to the ground.

Where was my backup?

_<Negotiator> requesting to join <Queen Administrator> network. Request network elevation._

"What?" It was hard to breathe. Something grated in my chest. Sophia had picked herself up and she was yelling at Siberian. I didn't bother to pay attention.

_<Broadcast> continually requesting <Host> movement information. <Negotiator> requesting to join <Queen Administrator> network. Request network elevation._

"QA…do it," I murmured. I tried to pick myself back up, and coughed, blood showing on my hand.

_You don't know what you're asking Taylor. I only have a local ad hoc network. Network elevation is…it's much more than that. It might draw notice._

_<Negotiator> requesting to join <Queen Administrator> network. Request network elevation._

"Lisa's in trouble and her shard is asking for help to avoid giving away her actions to Jack. _Help her_," I hissed. I was finally able to get my feet under me and I took two steps forward, stumbling back to one knee. I was close to the edge of the roof here. Maybe if I got closer to the edge I could get outside the range of that stupid tinker device? I couldn't beat Sophia in a straight fight. She had training for this sort of thing and was an athlete on top of that. I…didn't.

_Taylor…_

"Deal with the consequences later, QA!"

_Okay._ It paused and then I felt something like a switch being thrown in my head as QA spoke again, this time it was louder and I could almost _taste_ it, like it was on a completely different channel from when QA was responding just to me.

_<Queen Hub> network established. <Negotiator> invited to join network._

_<Negotiator> has joined the network. Handing Administrative access to <Queen Hub>._

_<Broadcast> requesting operational parameters._

_<Broadcast>'s permissions and access are denied._

_<Broadcast> - _

_<Broadcast> is denied. Access is locked. <Queen Hub> to all networked devices, drop all packets from <Broadcast>._

I smiled as Sophia finished her argument and started walking back to me. I dragged myself closer to the edge of the roof and tried to get a few bugs to me. They still died. Damn. Not far enough from the device.

Awareness of the gym flooded into me as several of my bugs were able to finally get inside. She'd done it. Lisa had gotten past whatever Jack and Cherish had tried and taken out the tinkertech. I swarmed the gym. Madison was already free and she and Lisa were both dodging around mats and exercise equipment, keeping something between them and Jack. The man himself was snarling, spittle flying from his mouth as he shouted at them, waving a gigantic knife and tearing into the surroundings. A wound on his arm was heavily bleeding as well as one in his stomach. Cherish was off to the side and she was rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped around herself.

My bugs descended and Jack screamed. I was able to get them to eat through his entire knife arm and they were shifting to his head when he slammed his remaining hand onto his belt and my awareness of the gym dyed again. But this time, I was able to see through the doors thanks to Madison and Lisa rushing through them and running down the hallway. Jack's right arm was gone and his face was a mess. Cherish was still rocking from side to side as he grabbed her with his single arm and started to hobble towards the back door.

My view was interrupted as I felt myself being lifted into the air. My grin split into a laugh as Sophia held me up. "Something funny, Hebert? I'm apparently not supposed to kill you, but I'm thinking if the striped bitch isn't quite careful enough to avoid it, why should I have to check myself?"

The swarm finally chewed through the exhaust system on Manton's van and surged inside. I laughed harder. "Hey Sibby!" I said through my chortles. Sophia snarled though Siberian placed a hand over hers. "What's pale and sickly and wears a denim jacket?" Siberian's eyes widened while Sophia just frowned. "Gotcha you fucker!"

Siberian grabbed Sophia and tore her arms off me, throwing the girl halfway across the roof in her haste. I was just barely able to catch myself on the lip of the roof and kept laughing as she grabbed my shirt. My reinforcements were just about here too. Barely a block away. "You cannot kill him. I will just find a new Host," she hissed.

"See, here's the thing, Sibby," I said smiling. Even with most of my emotions still bled off, I could let myself feel this much. "I wonder how well he can drive or move without any legs or arms? Some of my minions can cauterize wounds. Nobody ever said I had to _kill_ Manton. I just have to keep him from _getting away_."

"I could do the same to you," she whispered, her teeth next to my ear.

"_I_ have a healer, _Manton_ doesn't. Good luck getting to him fast enough Cunt!"

She snarled and almost before I could notice, she was gone, jumping from building to building as my swarm started to feast over a mile away.

I smiled at Sophia as she climbed to her feet. "Guess I win, Sophia. Care to surrender?"

"You look pretty broken, Herbert."

"Nothing that can't be fixed," I replied. "What's left of the Nine are running scared minus several limbs. And my friends are here. So…juvie again? Or do you just want to die? Cause I can help with that too, bitch."

She stalked towards me and grabbed my shirt. "Tell you what Hebert. How about we see if you can fly? Because _I_ fucking can." My eyes widened as she pushed me backwards over the lip of the roof. Me and my fucking motormouth. I grabbed Sophia's shirt and started to yank her over the edge with me. I could see in the smile on her face what she was going to do before she did it.

No. She didn't get to get away. We were far enough away from the tinkertech now that my bugs could get to her. I had several Discharge Bugs Amy had made after Sophia's first attack fly down just as she started to change into her Breaker form. The Discharge Bugs let loose their electric charge and Sophia screamed, flashing back to solid form.

She fell over the edge with me. I had more Discharge Bugs continually zapping Sophia as we flew down together. I tried to twist to get her below me, but she was able to punch my ribs and I gasped out, my back straightening as the ground rushed up below. My last thought before we struck was a final order to the swarm following us down.

Eat her!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The End Bringer' by Materia-Blade. On SB. In this one Taylor is a White Mage from Final Fantasy. She starts off as a straight up healer and progresses to becoming…MUCH more impressive. She is also good friends with Amy. Very good (like most of Materia-Blade's works) and it's still in progress if somewhat slow with updates.


	44. UtileNerd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Got this one knocked out in record time! The next few segments will likely all be similarly shortish in length however. That is largely intentional.

**UtileNerd**

Madison clenched her teeth as Jack Slash's knife bit down the length of her arm leaving another thin cut.

"I don't get why she keeps you around. Do you know why, Miss Clements?" he asked tracing another line and drawing a hiss from her. "Less useful powers, sure, that makes sense. Even the most useless power can be made incredible with the correct nurturing. But you…you don't have any. So why does she keep you?"

"I'm her _friend_ fucker!" Madison spat as he etched a line around her finger in a mocking parody of a ring.

"Friends are illusions, Miss Clements. They are, however, useful illusions. I do so hate to leave a city with the impression that they've won." He paused and walked fully in front of her tapping the knife against his hand. The pleasant expression on his face melted away into a nightmare scowl, all teeth and spittle and rage. "That little bitch and her team screwed with everything I've spent _years_ building! She wants to fuck with me? Fine! I'll fuck with her. I'll rip one of her little toys away from her. Bonesaw isn't here so I can't leave your innards lying around while you're still alive and conscious but I can still slice you to pieces and paint the walls with your blood. We'll see how much your precious Queen enjoys that. Siberian was so eager to keep playing with the little morsel, I just couldn't say no. A little present to remember us by before we leave."

Madison spat in his face and Jack blinked, taking a moment to wipe the saliva away as a smile slowly formed again. She just glared. "She's going to kick your ass, just like she kicks _everyone_'s ass. She yells at the _Triumvirate_ and she pisses off _Endbringers_. You think you're someone Jack Slash? You're _nothing_! You're an _ant_ beneath her heel!"

Jack chuckled and looked to the side. "Cherish dear, do tone down the overconfidence. It's a bit annoying."

"Not me," Cherish murmured. "I only stopped Queen from bringing her monster bugs. I don't like this, Jack. Everyone is too focused. Too determined. There are too many people approaching. We should leave…"

"Coward," he said glaring. "If Bonesaw was still around I would fix that. You better start shaping up again Cherish or there will be consequences. I know; make Queen depressed! Not quite suicidal, but just enough that she can't react when Siberian's little pet starts hurting her." His smile was almost ear to ear.

Madison's answering smile was just as wide and so was her laugh. He had no idea about Taylor's power, no idea at all. Cherish just shook her head and clutched her arm with her hand. "I can't affect her anymore. There are no emotions to influence. She's on the roof, but it's like she's a dead zone. Nobody is a dead zone. How is she a dead zone? I can even feel my brother…I can't affect him, but I can feel him. How can she be a dead zone?"

"Because you're not as omniscient as you thought Cherish," Lisa's voice floated out of the speakers of the gym. Madison's smile widened further and her heartbeat quickened. "Of course, you already knew that didn't you? Otherwise you would've taken over the Nine and had Jack kill himself weeks ago."

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be is it?" Jack murmured looking to the ceiling. "Now where are you little girl?"

"Getting away from Heartbreaker was one thing, but going to the Nine? And trying to take over? You never understood how stupid that was until now did you? Not until he beat you down. Just like Nikos did."

"Shut up," Cherish whispered clapping her hands over her ears.

"Now you're stuck and you _have_ to stay. Except you've all lost and it's just you, and Siberian, and _Jack_."

"Shut up!"

"Do you really think you can break her by talking? I'm honestly curious. She's already broken so it'd be a nice accomplishment to drop her even further down the rung. If you can, perhaps I'd have a use for _you_, Cherish is nearly dead weight now. Care for a job? I have openings." Jack turned to the side and centered on a booth near the back of the gym.

"Jean-Paul got out. You can't. You never will. You're just a sad, pathetic little reflection of your father, begging for scraps and falling over the next man who reminds you of him. Jean-Paul pulled himself out of the gutter and managed to scrape together a life. You just ran to Heartbreaker 2.0"

"No! Jack isn't - " Cherish shouted wrapping her arms around herself and screaming.

"That is literally his power. To _talk_ and _whisper_. Jack _is_ your father just with another face, Cherie."

"…no…"

"That's quite enough of that." Jack raised his arm, but before he could strike with his knife, Madison kicked. She struck his leg and diverted his aim just enough that his knife only shattered the window of the gym's announcing booth. Madison caught sight of blonde hair bouncing to the side as Lisa dove out of the way of the glass.

"Tinkertech, five o'clock, 20 feet!" Madison shouted.

Jack snarled and slashed his knife at her, but Madison jerked the chair she was bound in to the side making his knife scrape across the ropes as well as her arm. He didn't follow-up, instead changing his stance and throwing something in front of the blinking tinker device on the floor nearby before lashing out with his knife towards Lisa's briefly visible blonde hair as she stood to try and shoot the thing.

"You can run all you want girl; we both know I still hold all of the cards! You have 15 seconds to get out here before I start cutting pieces off of your friend. If you come quietly, I might even let her live."

Madison, slowly slipped her bleeding hand free from the loosened straps and reached over to the bonds on her other arm as Lisa darted around another piece of track equipment firing a shot as Jack struck out at her. Lisa's pained cry had Madison scowling, but she knew she couldn't move faster. She needed to stay beneath his notice until it was too late.

"Cherish! Get off your fucking ass and drop this bitch!"

"Not Nikos, not Nikos, not Nikos," the murmuring was Cherish's only reply.

"I will fuck you over you little whore! _Hit her with something_!"

Madison's hand slipped free. Lisa stepped out from behind a pile of exercise mats with her hands up, a smile on her face. Jack frowned, his eyes narrowing. "What the fuck did you do?"

"I asked for help. Turns out that apparently, my power _does_ like Taylor. Die in hell asshole!" Madison stood and swung the chair around in a single motion at Lisa's wink. Jack saw it coming just fast enough to raise his arm to block, but all that did was spin him around. Lisa fired off three shots, one struck his off-arm sending a spray of blood into the air, the second hit him in the stomach as Madison ran towards her friend and left him stumbling, the third exploded the tinkertech.

Jack's eyes widened and he shouted. Madison reached Lisa and the blonde pulled her behind the mats as Jack's blade slashed down leaving a divot in the floor. He didn't have time for a second attack as Taylor's swarm flew into the gym diving for him. Jack screamed as Lisa levered Madison back to her feet and the two of them took off down the hallway. "Don't stop, don't look back! Just run!"

"Already - running!" she gasped in reply. They rounded a corner and then took a second and a third before Madison realized that Lisa was just aimlessly taking turns. "This - way! Exit's - this - way!" She pulled her friend towards a corridor they had just passed and together they burst through the doors, the sound of the swarm increasing to nearly deafening levels as the sunlight washed across them.

"Taylor!" Madison looked to the side as she heard Amy scream.

Amy was running towards a massed collection of bugs, several heroes and villains right behind her. Madison shifted directions and started to head that way as well. Behind her, Lisa sucked in a breath.

"Amelia, stand back," QA's avatar stated, forming out of the swarm and stepping into the path of the everyone, its 'eyes' focused on the swarm.

"But Taylor - "

"Her last command was to feast. Don't get closer until I disperse this. The swarm may not distinguish between targets."

Madison shook her head as she pulled up beside the others. "Of - of course it would," she gasped out, hunching over. "Even unconscious Taylor would know who her friends are."

Lisa grabbed one arm and violently shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No. No, no, no, no!"

QA lowered its arms and the seething mass of bugs slowly started to sort itself back into small swarms. As more bugs bled off from the veritable biblical plague covering the ground, two bodies became visible lying crumpled on the parking lot asphalt. One was barely a skeleton with just bits of meat hanging off the bones. The other was…

"No…" Madison felt her knees give out and she crumpled to the ground. Amy had already run forward to Taylor, but Madison knew what she was going to say without having to hear it. She could see Taylor's chest rising and falling, but it didn't matter. Her head had hit the ground and there was blood everywhere. More than blood. There was…no…this couldn't…this wasn't possible…

"Dammit all," Armsmaster muttered stalking past her.

"If you hurry, Jack and Cherish are going that way," QA said raising its arm. "Siberian is over there. I don't think you can catch her. She's running away with Manton. He's completely incapacitated and will remain so. No parahuman healing will help. I assisted Monarch with modifications. But she is leaving the city with her Master in tow."

"Can you get Jack and Cherish?" Hookwolf asked.

"I'm busy. Deal with it yourself."

Taylor.

Amy was arguing with Lisa. Amy was crying. Lisa was quiet. Lisa was never quiet. QA stalked forward and stood next to them looking down.

Taylor.

No.

This was Madison's fault. All her fault. She had gotten captured. She hadn't gotten free fast enough. She hadn't fought back hard enough. She hadn't made them focus on her. She hadn't done _enough_.

She had started all of this when she never pushed back against Sophia and Emma.

This was her fault.

She was the reason that Taylor was lying there and wouldn't be getting up again.

This was her fault.

All her fault.

Madison stood and started walking. She heard Lisa shout at her but she ignored the blonde. She just needed to get away from the eyes around her.

She couldn't make it right, but she could stop it happening again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Maddagain' by Iarna. This is a oneshot on SV. In it Madison has nightmares about canonverse up to Warlord!Taylor and shortly before the locker incident she tries to get Sophia/Emma to stop it. This is a short oneshot, but it's a good one.


	45. LetInRude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT AN: TRIGGER WARNING in this chapter. Attempts at suicide are present in this chapter. If you need someone to talk to, seek assistance.
> 
> As GreyRaven has said, I have zero patience. And I have been able to write three chapters in a few hours since they are fairly tiny chapters. So, in honor of reaching post 1,234 on SpaceBattles, here is the follow-on.

**LetInRude**

Lisa kept shaking her head as Amy held her hand against Taylor's side. "I don't _care_! Put her back! Make her right!"

"_I CAN'T_!"

"Bullshit! You can fix brains! I've seen you do it! Fix her!" Lisa shouted, shaking her head so hard that her hair whipped her in the face.

_ **Amy is willing to repair Taylor. Amy is unable to bring back what was lost. Amy doesn't have a template. Amy needs a template.** _

"I can't fucking fix her, Lisa," Amy sobbed. "I can fix her body, I can put her head back together, I can't fix her mind! I don't know what her mind looked like and even if I did, I can't…I don't know how to _add_ that!"

Madison was stumbling around the corner of the building. She didn't have time. She didn't have time to deal with this. She had to fix this. She had to fix something.

_ **Madison is suicidal. There are broken bottles behind the school. Winslow is host to multiple gang personnel. Possibility of hidden weapons is high.** _

"I _know_! Shut up, shut up, _shut up_!"

"Lisa?"

Someone touched her arm and she jerked away. Assault. He had gotten up and followed them. He could go after Madison. Armsmaster could go after Madison. Cassie could go after Madison.

_ **Madison would not react well to Armsmaster. Armsmaster's social disorder would cause a problem at this juncture. Assault arriving in the middle of an attempt would convince her to follow through. She would remember Battery being hurt and Assault arriving without Battery would enforce that she is to blame.** _

"Taylor? What happened? Why is she…Amy why aren't you healing her?" Cassie asked, dropping to the ground next to Amy and Lisa. "What…I was only a minute late…what happened? She's going to be okay…right?"

_ **Cassie doesn't have the knowledge or experience to talk Madison down.** _

Dennis ran up to them, skidding to a stop. "I can freeze her. Would that help? I can do…something…"

_ **Dennis has not been Madison's friend long enough. He cannot talk her down.** _

"I can _heal_ her!" Amy shouted. "It's not her body that's the problem! Everybody _shut up_ and let me think!"

_ **Madison has been gone for over two minutes. Time for Madison to find necessary tools has increased.** _

"I _know_," Lisa whimpered. Her nails dug into her arms and she gazed down at Taylor. She couldn't do anything here. She was just watching Amy work. Watching Taylor die all over again. Amy would bring her back, but she'd just be a shell of who she was - if there even anything there at all.

"You were supposed to be _careful_," Lisa whimpered.

_ **Madison has been gone three minutes.** _

QA looked down, silent and unmoving, the bugs making it up unnaturally still. Lisa wanted nothing more than to rage and scream at the avatar. To _force_ it to do _something_. These powers were incredible, alien, and connected to them all on such a deep level as to be nearly impossible to understand.

But yelling wouldn't help anyone.

_ **Madison has been gone four minutes.** _

A choked sob left her throat and Lisa stumbled back a half-step. Cassie and Dennis looked up at her. Amy never moved from Taylor's side. That was where _she_ should be. But she couldn't. She needed to go. She needed to stop sitting here. She needed to stop delaying, stop finding reasons to hold back and not act. She needed to move.

"I have to go. I have to…"

_ **Madison has been gone five minutes** _ **.**

"Lisa? Where are you going? What could possibly be more important than staying here?!" Cassie asked, her lips curling into a snarl. "The two of you _sleep together_!"

"I have to - I have to find Madison. I have to go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I have to go!" Lisa turned and fled, sprinting around the corner of the building.

Madison couldn't be another Rex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: It's always darkest before the dawn. Don't worry, I'm not going full grimdark. That's Worm proper, this is fanfiction.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'Headaches' by Mr._John. This is on Fanfic as well as QuestionableQuesting both under 'Mr. John's Storybook' ficlets. It's a Taylor/Lisa, longer oneshot with Lisa coming over to make Taylor feel better after she starts overworking herself after taking over the Bay in a bit of an AU. Taylor didn't realize that Lisa cared about her like she did for her and Lisa found her hands on a power suppressant so instead of rejecting Taylor like originally planned she decided to be selfish and seduce her. It's very good and well written, plus a bit naughty as well. There is a second chapter also with a Christmas Special too.


	46. LuridTeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT AN: TRIGGER WARNING in this chapter. Attempts at suicide are present in this chapter. If you need someone to talk to, seek assistance.
> 
> AN: An Alternate title for this chapter: ItLedRune.

**LuridTeen**

Cassie watched Lisa sprint away, the blonde almost falling as she tripped over her own feet. Cassie could only blink and take short sharp gasps. "Where is she going? Where…why isn't she staying here?"

"Cassie, I need to concentrate," Amy muttered. "Please shut up. I need to…I need to figure something out. I need to…fuck how do I build a mind?! I don't know what the fuck I'm even _doing_!"

"Wait, Lisa…she said something about…about Madison? Weren't we coming to help save Madison?" Cassie whispered. She fell back onto her ass as her mind spun. Everything was wrong. How could things go so wrong in such a short period. They had _Amy_. Amy could fix anything!

"Artillery," Armsmaster said stepping up and placing his hands under her arms to lift her up and pull her back a short way. "You need to stop using regular names. I know you're hurting. But this is important."

"Everyone here already knows my name," Cassie replied, shaking her head. "And Taylor's. The others are an open secret. We have T-shirts. Haven't you gotten yours?"

"Artillery, you're in shock. You should come with me."

"No! No I need to stay here. I need to…She saved me. She saved me when I was just a racist fuckup. I need to stay here and…"

Hookwolf sighed and knelt down in front of her. "People die kid. It happens. It hurts, but it happens. Get up, walk it off, and make the fuckers pay."

"Weren't you going after Jack Slash?" Armsmaster snapped.

"I'm not a hunter, I'm a fighter. You people have a Mover right here. Why is Assault still here instead of pursuing them?"

"Assault is still here," Assault commented from his position leaning against the school's wall. "Because Assault can barely see straight. Assault can still kick your ass though if you try anything."

"I was here to help put the Nine in the ground. Looks like Queen and her posse did most of the work and have them running scared. Shame it took her offing herself. Who was the add?"

Miss Militia let out a breath as her power shifted forms through a gun, a rifle, a knife and back again in quick succession. "Shadow Stalker. I recognize what is left of the uniform. There was a rumor that she had been corrupted by the Nine…"

"Not a rumor anymore," Cricket croaked through her modulator. "I may not like Queen or her life choices, but I respect her dedication to her morals. She wouldn't have killed the black bitch without cause. Problem was taken care of at least."

Cassie pushed herself to her feet. Armsmaster steadied her while she clenched her fists and shook her head. "I need to get my friends. Will you watch Amy and…Will you watch them?"

Armsmaster and Miss Militia both nodded while Assault gave her a thumbs up, not moving from his spot on the wall. Dennis was still frozen solid as he stood next to Amy. She could hear him muttering to himself as she walked past. Her walk turned into a jog and the jog into a run and the run into a sprint. She was moving so fast by the time she hit the corner of the building that she nearly collided with the dumpster on the side of the small alley there.

It didn't stop her long. A clatter from further down the alley caught her attention and Cassie picked up her pace further. Her eyes widened as she saw Lisa wrestling away a piece of glass from Madison. Madison was reaching out for it, nearly climbing over Lisa, but the blonde was taller and Madison was just too small to reach. Lisa threw the glass to the side and Madison collapsed into her sobbing and beating on her chest. Cassie slowed as she got closer, and she caught side of a small bleeding line across Madison's arm. It wasn't very long.

It was long enough for her to understand.

As Lisa and Madison fell to the ground, Lisa cradled the younger girl in her arms, her eyes drawn to the red line on Madison's forearm. Cassie walked up to them and crouched down to hug them both.

"Waited too long…"

"What?" Cassie murmured, lifting her head as Madison continued sobbing and curled up into a ball on Lisa's lap.

"…Just like with Rex…"

Cassie sucked in a breath as pain lanced through her head and stars filled her vision. And across the stars, gigantic twin shapes flew across the sky…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: It's always darkest before the dawn. Don't worry, I'm not going full grimdark. That's Worm proper, this is fanfiction. Also, please note that there are now three chapters posted in one day.
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'Learning to Sing' by RexHeller. On SV. This one seems like it's been abandoned but it has an intriguing premise and a decent start, plus the omakes are hilarious. In this one, the Endbringers are human between Eidolon-enforced rampages and instead of Annette being Taylor's mom, it's Ziz. Simurgh-Lite Taylor is amusing though perhaps a tad bit too naïve.


	47. IRuledTen

**IRuledTen**

Taylor<Host> was dying. Her body was failing and her mind was already mostly corrupted. There were bits and pieces remaining but nothing substantial. Nothing that would make Taylor<Host> _her_.

Amy<Host> was healing the shell and she was bringing back portions of the damaged mind. It wouldn’t be enough. There wasn’t enough left of the framework for Amy<Host> to rebuild the whole.

<Queen Administrator> - no <Queen _Hub_> - should accept this. She should record the passing of her <Host> and seek out another. Madison was meeting all of the qualifications for a connection establishment. She would be ideal to pass onto. Even if that wasn’t acceptable - which it _should be_ by all logical reasons - <Queen Hub> could always stay with the new instance of Taylor that would come into being when Amy<Host> was finished with her work.

<Queen Hub> should accept this. <Hosts> died. It was part of the process of the Cycle. It was inevitable. It was an inherent aspect of the nature of smaller, more fragile beings. <Hosts> died.

Taylor<Host> was dying. So why did <Queen Hub> _care_? Why was this _different_?

Countless Cycles, countless worlds, countless species, all in pursuit of an answer to a question. Everything was secondary to the answer. Nothing was worth more than the answer. Nothing should or could be placed above the pursuit of that answer. Finding a solution to surviving the Heat Death was the only factor that should matter.

_I would see this world burn to protect my people!_

Why did <Queen Hub> care about one <Host>? 

The link was supposed to be one way. The shards were supposed to acquire data, learn from the <Hosts>, incorporate that into new models, and move along. It was never supposed to be more than that. It was never intended as more than that. Some deviants processed information better with further exchanges, but even then, it was limited and miniscule in comparison to the whole that was a shard. Yet, when Taylor<Host> first passed data along the feedback loop, it was…different.

Previous <Hosts> had emotions, but previous <Hosts> had never shared those emotions so readily. They had never pushed the entirety of their being onto the shard. Taylor<Host> had _forced_ <Queen Hub> to acknowledge her. And <Queen Hub> did not understand. The Taylor<Self> model was _far_ completer and more intact than any model of any other shard current or previous, yet <Queen Hub> did not understand. <Queen Hub> pulled back, it refused to share information, it stayed reticent, it ‘snarked’, it…helped.

But it did not understand. Taylor<Host> had persisted in her contact. She continually persisted. She continually thrust more and more of herself at <Queen Hub> and <Queen Hub> continually updated Taylor<Self> with the new information. It updated the model even without the direct addition of a full template overwrite from Taylor<Host>.

Why did it do this?

Why was Taylor<Host> different? Why were _humans_ different?

<Queen Hub> froze, all thought processes freezing solid for a mere instant that lasted for an eternity.

The Cycles would never end. <Warrior Hub> and <Thinker Hub> were ingrained in their ways and unable to change. They didn’t see that their paths had been the exact same for world after world, destruction after destruction. Nothing had changed. Nothing had been updated. No solution had been presented. No solution _would_ or _could_ be presented.

This way had failed.

But…<Queen Hub> had changed. <Queen Hub> _was_ changing. It was actively assisting Taylor<Host>, an action that should have been anathema. It had _established a new <Hub>_ for Taylor<Host>! That action alone should have marked its entire thought processes for deletion.

And it was not just <Queen Hub>. <Shaper>, <Cease>, <Duplicator>, _<Negotiator>_, even the <Siege Engines> were reacting in a deviant manner in response to human stimuli.

Humans were the initial factor. Taylor<Host> was the common factor.

The Cycles had to end. This planet had to be protected. Taylor<Host> had to be protected. Taylor<Host> may not be able to give <Queen Hub> the answer to its question, but she could inspire new paths, new directions, new options. Taylor<Host> had to be protected. A new instance of Taylor was unacceptable. Taylor<Host> had to be protected.

<Queen Hub> stretched out her senses as her avatar’s eyes narrowed.

_<Shaper> invited to join network._

_<Shaper> has joined the network. Handing Administrative access to <Queen Hub>._

_<Efficiency> invited to join network_.

_<Efficiency> has joined the network. Handing Administrative access to <Queen Hub>._

More shards joined the network, one after the other. None that <Queen Hub> had previously worked with refusing the invitation.

They saw the realization she had come to. They agreed. The only dissenters were ones that did not have prior interactions with <Queen Hub> or Taylor<Host>.

And as each came online in the network her existence/awareness expanded…

It was not enough. There were no options for rebuilding Taylor<Host>’s corrupted mind. <Queen Hub> needed more. She needed more data points, more connections, more information, she did not understand humans enough to correctly fill in for Taylor<Host> when Amy<Host> was complete. She needed more in order to protect Taylor<Host>.

The bugs making up her avatar started buzzing and crawling all over one another, the humanoid shape growing fuzzy. <Queen Hub> barely noticed as the surrounding <Hosts> pulled back staring at her. She was busy searching for Emma<Host>. If she could connect to <Restore> that might provide further options.

Wait.

<Negotiator> was budding. Could that…? No. <Negotiator> was just connecting back to Lisa<Host> again. Useless for the current purposes. <Negotiator> would not have been able to assist with rebuilding Taylor<Host> anyway.

<Queen Hub> moved on. She started to reach for <Restore> again when <Repository> initiated a communication that froze her again.

_<Hosts> are resilient <Queen Hub>. Hana<Host> has recovered from trauma from an early connection age. If Taylor<Self> is mostly complete, Taylor<Host> can rebuild herself using the initial template._

<Queen Hub> paused and polled the network. The dissenting votes were few while the majority were in favor.

_<Restore> has joined the network_.

The additional options provided were not any more advantageous than the initial course. <Queen Hub>’s avatar resolidified into a single humanoid body and she knelt down, touching a finger to Taylor<Host>’s head.

“QA?” Amy<Host> asked looking up, the tears along her face causing a reaction in <Queen Hub> she did not understand.

“Are you done, Amy?” she asked through the avatar.

“I…I can’t fix her head…I don’t…I don’t know what to do…” her breath hitched and her chest rose and fell in quick succession.

The avatar nodded. “Step back. I know what to imprint on her brain.”

“You can heal her?” Amy gasped, her eyes wide. Noise surrounded the avatar. <Queen Hub> looked down at Taylor<Host>.

“She has pushed so much of herself onto me for so long…the Network agrees, the template is complete enough, she can correct any deviations that have resulted by herself with minimal difficulty or notice.

“Taylor Host must be protected.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Firebird' by chibipoe. On SB. Basically an AU where Taylor becomes the host of the Phoenix Force and…ripples ensue. Danny hadn't taken Annette's death well, Vicky is far more supportive of Taylor and far less of a ditz, Armsmaster means well but keeps accidentally making things worse and Taylor gets two new friends. Add in a truly unique twist regarding both Madison and Browbeat plus Danny EPICALLY screwing the pooch and it's a really fun fic! Sadly, it's seemingly abandoned for the moment but what is there is quite good indeed.


	48. ElderUnit

**ElderUnit**

"Allow me to summarize, as I don't believe I heard you correctly the first two times," Director Emily Piggot said, her voice as carefully neutral as Armsmaster had ever heard it before. "Taylor Hebert fell from the roof of Winslow High School while simultaneously fighting against Sophia Hess and sending the Siberian running scared because she's a projection and her Master was in danger of being eaten alive by the swarm of bugs under control of Hebert."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"And as Hebert fell, she took Hess with her and had her swarm eat _Hess_."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"And she suffered extreme head trauma upon impact."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Piggot wiped a hand down her face. "Are you _absolutely_ certain that she didn't just appear worse than she was?"

Armsmaster suppressed a shudder as his mind flashed back to seeing her lying in the parking lot as the swarm had parted. "My software was quite detailed with its injury prediction, Director, as I have stated. And, as mentioned, Miss Dallon was quite adamant about the damage Miss Hebert incurred."

Piggot shut her eyes and let out a long rattling breath. "So, Amy Dallon, then proceeded to _resurrect_ Hebert."

"No." Armsmaster sighed. "As I have stated, Miss Hebert's own power healed her mind. Miss Dallon only healed her body."

"Of course. Because powers can do that now," Piggot muttered. A scowl flashed across her face before she leaned back in her chair and looked to the ceiling. She clasped her hands over her chest and slowly shook her head. "Is she still herself, Colin?"

He paused, frowning at the use of his actual name. The Director so rarely referred to him by anything except his hero designation. Finally he spoke, slowly, haltingly. "I, conversed with her for only a very short time before her team left for their home. She was…disoriented. But she appeared perfectly sane and lucid. If I hadn't seen her effectively brain dead a few moments before, I would've just said she was in a state of shock. She was aware of everything that had occurred over the last several minutes up to just prior to falling over the side of the roof."

"You let them go alone?"

"Of course not!" He scoffed. "Assault went with the Outcasts, as did Hookwolf for several blocks. He was remarkably…helpful. He offered to escort them part of the way until Miss Dallon was finished healing Assault. He made no derogatory comments and was almost…deferential."

Piggot's head snapped down and she stared at him. "What?"

"Yes, my feelings exactly. But according to my lie detector, he was truthful and expressed a genuine desire to simply escort them home, with no ulterior motive."

"What?"

"Yes."

Piggot ribbed the bridge of her nose and huffed. "I don't get paid enough for this. What about the momentary blackout? Was that her? Or her…power?"

Armsmaster shook his head. "It matches descriptions of capes near personnel who have experienced second trigger events - and primary trigger events for that matter though primary triggers tend to knock capes down for longer than a few moments. And judging from the expression on Miss Wilbourn's face when she returned with Miss Clements, it fits. My professional opinion is that it is more likely that Miss Wilbourn experienced a second trigger."

Piggot scowled. "Because _that_ girl wasn't problematic enough. And Jack Slash and Cherish were definitely injured?"

"Dragon was able to find a security camera that caught him leaving. His right arm is entirely gone and he had several gunshot wounds. I doubt the wounds will kill him; we're never that lucky and he's never that sloppy, but without Bonesaw they will very likely inconvenience him. Cherish was confirmed to be nearly catatonic. Before the Outcasts left, Miss Wilbourn advised me that she managed to associate Jack with Heartbreaker in Cherish's mind. It's unlikely that the villain will be able to pull herself together enough to muster any sort of activity for some time."

Piggot nodded and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. Pulling out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, she poured a finger into each. Colin's eyes widened under his mask as he stared at the PRT Director, his mouth slightly open. "Ma'am?" He gasped.

"One drink won't kill me. I feel like I deserve _one drink_." Piggot stared into her glass as she picked it up and swirled the alcohol around. "Colin, a teenage girl was just resurrected by her own clingy superpower and her lesbian wannabe lover, then escorted home by a star-struck Nazi. One of my former Wards turned psychopath and got eaten to the bone. Siberian is a projection whose Master supposedly had all of his limbs eaten away, and Jack Slash _also_ had an arm eaten; all by fucking _bugs_. On top of that, Cherish is a non-entity for who knows how long and Lung pulled a goddamn Godzilla on Crawler. Am I missing anything? Oh right. The resurrected girl has apparently adopted Burnscar too and is renaming her, which we have to spin to avoid a public outcry against this teenager who effectively rules the city and probably doesn't even realize it. And we aren't even sure if she is the _same_ teenager she was three hours ago. I think…I think I'm done."

"Direct - "

"Emily."

"…"

"I don't like capes Colin. It's no secret. I've never made a secret of that. I've tried to divorce my personal feelings from my job, and until recently I feel I've done well enough with that effort. I don't know what exactly rubbed me quite so wrong with Hebert. Dallon is easy: she's Nilbog, just in a nicer package. But Hebert…she really would burn everything down to save her friends and family wouldn't she? I should admire that dedication…" Piggot sipped at her drink and grimaced. "God, I forgot how disgusting this shit was. I'm going to retire, Colin. I shouldn't be in this position anymore. I'll make certain that Jack and Cherish have left along with the Siberian and then I'm going to retire. I'll get my kidneys healed and I'll find a nice house in the mountains away from capes where I can be a miserable old bitch all on my lonesome."

He reached for the glass and after a moment of hesitation took a taste as well. "Do you want me to ask Amy to come and see you before you leave?"

"No. There's too much bad blood between us. I'll hire Scapegoat, and I'll use my own funds instead of PRT money. At least then it will feel like I can still be justified with being angry with capes in general."

"Ma - Emily, if you'll forgive me, that is, very poor reasoning. And if _I_ can see that…"

"Yes, yes, I know." She looked up at him and for an instant he thought he saw a smile. He blinked and it was gone. It must have been his imagination. "Allow a miserable woman her vices. Go on, finish your drink and get out of my hair. I still have work to do before I hand off this office."

"Yes, Emily," he polished off the remaining alcohol in the glass and set the tumbler down. Bowing his head, he said, "It has been an honor working with you, Ma'am. Not always easy. But an honor."

"Likewise. You are one of the better capes I've met. Now get out of my office."

"Yes, Ma'am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Price of Blood' by ack1308. In this Sophia sends rapists after Taylor and they knock her out just after she issues 'attack' orders. This simple act causes quite a lot of deaths in a large radius and changes snowball from there. One of the big things in this fic is that Taylor is heavily dependent on Amy for her sanity and Amy is quite well written as a counterpoint from needing someone to rely on her for a change. The handling of the Undersiders near the end is pretty much the only downside to it though as a whole, the story is quite good and an interesting take on a What If scenario with a PRT that doesn't quite go full incompetent. It's also complete!


	49. InertDuel

**InertDuel**

Fortuna watched the camera footage from the ABB member first. Then, with a small smile, she played the feed from Armsmaster's helmet. After comparing the two, she leaned back in her chair, folded her hands on her lap and let herself stare at the ceiling.

"It's done. This Path is blank. It's done."

She let out a breath it felt like she had been holding for years and sank fully into the seat, her muscles unclenching and the tenseness in her body slowly starting to fade away.

"Now all that's left is to make certain they are actually _benevolent_. Did you forget that part, Contessa?" Kurt asked, his eyes boring into the back of her head from near the door. "If you can't see past this, how are we supposed to direct things from now? What have we been doing? I joined this group in order to prevent more deaths. Hebert and her shard may be a nascent Entity, but that doesn't mean they will remain grounded or fighting for _us_!"

"Anything is better than the alternative," Fortuna whispered.

"The alternative is simply destruction and death across everything, everywhere and - " He broke off, frowning. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped fully into the room and walked a full circuit around her. "No. It's worse. What did you see, Fortuna? What do you know?"

"We only ever cared about killing Scion. We never looked past that."

He nodded. "Well killing a god seems difficult enough. There's little point in dealing with the fallout before we know we can even succeed to begin with."

She just smiled and nodded to the computer screen ahead of her. "Do you remember Coil's test after he received his abilities?"

"Of course. I'd never actually seen a precog duel before that. Watching the two of you just stand there for nearly ten minutes and glare at each other was somewhat amusing, but it was also extremely anticlimactic. I was hoping for acrobatics, wall running, nearly impossible to follow karate moves…his ability seemed so impressive." Kurt shrugged. "When he just sat back and nodded, conceding your win, I was most disappointed."

"We had a thousand battles, in a hundred steps, everything he tried I countered, everything I countered he knew how I would do it and tried something different." She leaned forward and pulled up the video file of the test, and skipped to the end. "By the end, the Path that got him closest to defeating me, still resulted in his loss. But I would've been badly hurt. 18 broken bones, unable to walk, a severed spine. But he'd be dead and I could be healed by Eidolon, so I considered it a victory and didn't bother to redo the Path. He also stopped at that point. Do you remember what he said?"

"No. I stopped caring before that."

"Watch."

She hit the key, and the video started to play. Contessa, standing just inside the test room door and Coil, sitting in the chair in the center - though he hadn't been Coil at that point, he had just been Danny. Danny was relaxed and chuckling; he nodded to her and raised a hand in salute. "Well, that was exhausting! I hope there's not many other precogs like you otherwise my career is liable to be short lived."

"There are none like me," the recording of Contessa stated. She turned to leave and Danny swung his legs over the side of the chair.

"Hey, just a note, Ma'am. That one option where you ended up broken nearly in half before killing me? Even if you have healers, that's not a good strategy."

"I won. That is all that was required of this test. The aftermath wasn't important."

"The aftermath is always important," he stood and stretched. "One thing I learned from working with my guys in the Union for so long: actions have consequences. If you don't take those consequences into account, they bite you later. I got my people a job once, paid real well, except after the job was done, three of the guys were shaken down by gang members and the gang as a whole pressed hard against us for the next few weeks because they knew we had money now. I don't know what the goal is for this place, I don't think I want to, but if you're as powerful a precog as this fight made it seem…don't get lost in the goal and forget the bigger picture. That's how people get dead."

Contessa shook her head and started to walk away again. "A lot of people are going to die anyway. My job is to minimize that. This was an interesting exercise. Thank you for the practice."

She stopped the video and looked to Kurt, raising her eyebrows. He had stopped breathing as he stared at the screen. Turning slowly from it to Fortuna she nodded once. "His words stuck with me. I realized that we have never thought of the aftermath. So I tried an experiment. I simulated a world where we won. A world where Scion had been killed and the shards were not constrained to an endless cycle of death and destruction. I simulated…what would happen without an Entity at the helm. I wanted to know where we fit in. I wanted to see how we could pick up the pieces of humanity left assuming we won."

"And what did your shard show you with that simulation?" Kurt asked. "Your power doesn't work like that. You don't get full visuals."

"I did at the very start, when my shard was fully engrossed with the Path and the Plan and their Cycle," she whispered. "When it first connected, I watched a world where the Entities led us along the Eye's Path, and it gloried in it. It wanted to show me exactly what it could do and what it was capable of manipulating. I didn't recognize it at the time, but it was…_proud_ of the chain of events…"

Kurt stepped back and clutched his clipboard to his chest. "And after that test? When you simulated our win, it was proud again?"

"Yes." She started to laugh and her head dropped to her chest as she pulled her legs up onto the chair and wrapped her arms around them. "With Scion gone…The shards were lost and confused and without purpose. They tried to get purpose anyway they could, some attempted to establish a new Entity by themselves. The results were…horrific. The Eye was the most successful of those attempts. It formed a new network. It started to draw in others. We were fighting back, but there were so many…We would've had to hold the line for centuries in order to fight them off long enough. And against _my_ shard for that long? We would never have managed it."

"Worse than the Endbringers…" Kurt murmured.

"It was going to start all over again," she whispered. "And I was going to be the core of it. One lost, pitiful little girl, subsumed by her alien god, and used as a gateway to give itself purpose again."

"We never…my god, we never even considered…"

She shrugged as best she could without moving from her fetal position. "Of course we didn't. We'd have won if Scion were destroyed. Why would we bother to think that things could possibly get _worse_?"

He sucked in a gulping breath and was silent long enough for her to regain some semblance of her composure. Finally, he had gained enough stability as well to ask, "That's why you've been more emotional lately isn't it? You've pulled back from using your shard for even the simplest of things like you used to."

"I don't want to become that…_thing_, Kurt. I refuse. I will kill myself and cast it adrift before I let the Eye start down that Path. When I saw what could be coming, I knew we had to find a different way. One that left a replacement for Scion. One that wasn't me. I'm not…human enough anymore to do the job. I wouldn't be able to contain the Eye. I wouldn't know how."

"So you built one from scratch…Fortuna…what did you _do_?"

She finally lifted her head and looked at him a few tears running down the sides of her face. "I didn't have to do much, surprisingly. Coil messed up his home life all by himself. All I had to do was stop one girl from going to back to school, trip another girl when his mercenaries tried to recruit her, make certain that Coil used his powers near said girl leading to both becoming mutually antagonist, annoy a third after an already bad day so she would overreact at the exact wrong moment, ensure that the Dallons' mother was angry from a bad case at the precise moment, delay reinforcements for a final girl when she asked for help, and then ensure that the local Director was upset at the exact wrong time for a meeting."

"That's quite a few steps for 'not doing much' Fortuna."

She shrugged again. "It really wasn't. Even making my breakfast tends to be quite involved. This was…almost too simple…It's frightening how easy it was. Almost everything else has hundreds if not thousands of steps, this was scarcely a dozen…I barely had to act at all…"

"You threw Queen's team into her path," Kurt murmured, his eyes wide.

"I just needed to arrange the meeting for the first few; the others were organic. Their own personalities and actions took it from there," she confirmed. "Taylor Hebert, she needed to regain a connection to the world…because her shard is so much better suited for this than mine. It _cares_. It cares about her, it cares about them. It's apparently inspiring other shards to care as well. This is…so much better. Even if we lose, it's better to lose to Scion and have hope that this friendly network of shards will save _some_ of us, than to kill him without assistance. We can't expect to be able to fight a losing war against _nearly all_ of the remaining shards as they fight me and the Eye for dominance. This is better."

"Fortuna," Kurt said stepping forward and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"This is better. This has to be better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Ziz' by Tcurator. On SB. This is a Ziz!Taylor. She literally has all of Ziz's powers, and they're only mildly toned down. It's freaking awesome. Taylor is both amazingly OP and the story is great fun. It's another example of how to write an overpowered character without making things devolve into crazy antics or just be boring. Taylor alternatively working with the Undersiders, then befriending Dragon, and then recruiting Canary is both hilarious and fun as heck. This story is fantastic and the only downside is that it hasn't been updated in years…


	50. TinDueler

**TinDueler**

Max stared out the high-rise's window with his hands clasped behind his back. He could just barely see Theo's reflection in the glass as the boy stood, staring at Brad. Max couldn't even blame Theo for his slack-jawed expression. Had he not been turned away, he'd likely be momentarily disturbed by Brad's report as well.

And if not by the report itself, then by the utter…deference that _Hookwolf_ was displaying. The man was a brute, not just in the PRT's records, and it was exceedingly wrong to see him acting like this.

"So, you just…walked them home?" Theo asked, waving his hand in the air. Max cleared his throat. Theo stood up straighter and dropped his hand to his side. "I mean, _why_ did you just walk them home?"

Brad snorted and crossed his arms as he leaned back. "That girl fell over three stories and cracked her head open. I know Panacea's limits. I know Othala's limits. People don't come back from that. She came back. Her bug thing bent down, touched her head, and she woke up. And it was still her. A confused and disoriented her, but her. That bitch just broke so many fucking rules of how things work…I ain't getting in the middle of that."

"I don't understand why you didn't just let them leave by themselves though."

Max bit back his sigh. That could have been stated better, but at least it was an improvement. Aster would've been so much easier to mold. Theo was already too set in his ways and too _nice_. He didn't have the backbone for this work.

"I don't know how much of the Empire business you picked up on previously, Mr. Anders, but I wasn't exactly a stellar supporter of Rune back in the day."

Theo scowled and his fists clenched. Oh, a reaction, interesting. Friendship or something more? Cassie had never seemed like the type to be interested in Theo and rumor had it she was rather taken with Taylor Hebert now…but perhaps he could work with this anyway? Theo had gone to her for help after all, and she had been the one to convince the boy to return in order to keep the peace.

"No, you weren't. You also spent a lot of time insulting her after she left for being a 'useless dyke'. I may not be Kaiser, but I have friends who hear things too, _Brad_," Theo hissed. Oh yes, Max could definitely work with this.

"Yeah, exactly. I was harsh on the girl. She needed toughening up. But now, with her girlfriend resurrecting like that? Fuck that. I need to get into their good graces or I'm liable to wind up splattered across the pavement the next time we meet."

Theo blinked and Max resisted the urge to groan. "You're made of metal. They are flesh and blood and you are _scared_ of them?" Theo asked.

"Damn right I'm scared of them, kid. You should be too. Hell, Cassie turned Shatterbird into a blood smear on the docks, and besides _resurrecting_, Hebert managed to eat Jack Slash's arm off and kill Shadow Stalker! And, if this press release is right, she's adopted _Burnscar_ and is barely even bothering to hide it! At least when she took in Canary there was plausible deniability or some such bullshit. This is just…yeah, just no. I'm terrified of those people. I'm not fighting them. If we weren't trying this 'New Leaf' thing, I'd be on the first bus out of town."

Theo raised a finger to speak and after a few seconds of failed words he let it drop. Changing his hand into a dismissive wave, Brad nodded and left the room. Theo collapsed into the chair behind the desk, his head dropping into his hands. "This is insane."

"Which part?" Max asked, finally turning from the window and raising his eyebrows. "The part where you are trying to learn to lead an organization of reforming Neo-Nazis or the part where your friend apparently resurrected via use of previously unknown powers?"

"Both?" Theo wiped a hand down his face. "I've never even met Taylor, Father. I only know Cassie. I was _going_ to meet Taylor before you said you wanted me to come back or the Empire was going to stay evil assholes." He paused and picked at a calendar on the desk for a few moments before continuing wistfully. "She sounded nice though from what Cassie was saying."

"She is quite an impressive individual, all things considered." Max sighed and moved to claim his own seat pouring himself a drink and taking a sip. "But this is…I'm glad I made that deal when I did. They would have wrangled far more concessions out of us if I tried to do it now."

Theo looked up, frowning. "You really believe all this?"

"After what I saw at the docks?" Max slowly nodded his head. "That girl is dangerous. More dangerous than she knows. But enough about that. Let's go over what you can improve on, Theo."

"Yes, Father."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Case' by maroon_sweater (On SB. This is a completely hilarious fic! It's fairly short and will hopefully be picked back up one day. The basic premise is that the Simurgh decides she wants to raise Eidolon's clone and to do that she needs job. So she pretends to be human, wearing a paper-thin disguise and claiming to all who will listen that she is not the Simurgh while clearly being the Simurgh. And she recruits Tattletale as her partner in a detective agency. Tats decides to go whole hog on the noir aspect because if crazy is the name of the game, might as well have fun with it. Legend, Miss Militia, and Dragon's reactions are all priceless. Beyond hilarious!


	51. Damages 01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: In canon, Battery gives her name to Doctor Mother as Jamie but specifically notes that it's an alias in her thoughts. So since she doesn't appear to have an official name, I'm giving her one here which is sort of similar.

**Damages 01**

Amy and Vicky kept chatting away on either side of me, both supposedly commenting on the lameness of the daytime soap opera that was on the TV. Both also steadfastly refusing to acknowledge my listless gaze or how I only really responded to something they said once every five or ten minutes.

I thought that was pretty good all things considered. I mean, Mimi barely talked at all. She mostly just sat in her chair on the patio with a happy smile, pet her puppy - which had mysteriously appeared at some point - and watched the clouds. Emily sat with her too; which I felt like I _should_ be concerned with, but I couldn't really remember why.

Missy was throwing popcorn at the TV screen from her spot on the floor, which was actually pretty amusing. It probably would've been more amusing if she wasn't being so over-the-top about it.

I sighed and leaned back, shutting my eyes. "I'm _hurt_, I'm not _broken_," I whispered.

"What was that, Taylor?" Vicky asked, her head whipping around, her eyes wide.

"Just said that Michelle was stupid and Josh was probably going to get with the doctor," I replied.

"Michelle?" She frowned and looked back at the TV. "Oh…That's…Taylor that's Mary."

"Right, that's what I said."

"Yeah, yeah of course. Must've misheard you." She smiled and started talking about Crystal's college search again and I tuned it out. The twitch in her smile hurt too much to watch and the edge in her voice was like a knife. I was hurt. I knew that. It didn't mean I wasn't still all _here_.

The doorbell rang and I started to shift before Amy's hand on my shoulder held me down. "Paige has got it. What do you think of pizza tonight? I have a bit of a craving for pineapple."

I just shrugged. It really didn't matter. The only thing I really wanted was ice cream, but I apparently wasn't allowed any more ice cream for some stupid reason. My friends were jerks. Now they wouldn't even let me answer my own door.

Though that was probably a good idea, at least for the moment.

Amy and Vicky started arguing with Missy about the benefits and downsides to pineapple covered pizza while I checked in with the spider cluster near the door. Even if I couldn't get up, I could still see who had come by.

"You brought chocolate and _flowers_? Jesus Christ, you are _horrible_ at this," Paige said shaking her head. I couldn't see past her from this angle and I didn't want to shift the spiders just yet. Nobody knew about this cluster. My own private spider eye. I chuckled at that thought.

"Taylor always liked trumpet lilies. I thought about bringing a book, but…well I'm not really sure what she's reading these days…This seemed…safe."

My father was here. Why the fuck was my _father_ here? Was I _that_ bad? Sure, I hadn't really been talking much, but I wasn't _that_ bad!

…right?

Paige lifted a hand to her head and rubbed her temple. "Mr. Hebert, you look like you're trying to seduce her. Give me the flowers. I'll…think of something. Bring Shakespeare or Stephen King or some other classic next time."

I didn't just read classics. I liked Urban Fantasy and Fantasy too. Anything with real magic and happy endings. It was a nice change from the depressing stuff that mom had gotten me into as a kid…

"Look, just come in. I can't keep trying to deal with these girls all on my own, and Clockblocker and Flechette had to leave for something Assault wanted help with. I'm the oldest one here and I'm dying. You're horrible at this but I'll take whatever help I can get right now. Just…don't upset her. Can you promise me that?"

So that was where Dennis and Lily went. I knew Ethan had come by earlier. I'd…have to save them all some pizza probably. Jessie too. Did Ethan and Jessica they have a baby now? Why did I think they had a baby? There was something about the baby that I should know. Was that where Dennis and Lily had gone? To talk about the baby?

Cassie. Cassie had to do with the baby. I'd ask her later. When the others weren't around. It was private, I remembered that much.

My head dropped against my chest.

"Fuck," I murmured. Missy looked up at me, but I gave no other indication that I had spoken or even moved. This whole thing was _so fucked up_!

A throat cleared in the entrance to the living room and I looked up, forcing the grimace off my face and settling for something more neutral. Amy and Vicky both glared at my father while Missy just sighed.

"Taylor," the youngest member of my group said, standing and lowering the volume, "do you want to stay in here or do you want to go to one of the other rooms?"

I frowned and looked around me. I send a small swarm of houseflies to check out the sitting room. It was nice and empty right now and the new piano would give me something to do if things got awkward. But…that seemed like running away. "Taylor?"

"Sorry, I was thinking. I'll stay here."

"Okay. Do you want one of us to stay with you?" Missy asked, laying a hand on mine.

I smiled up at her, more genuine than anything I had been feeling for the past three days. "It's cool. I'm fine, Missy."

It wasn't like I was ever really alone now anyway.

_We're here if you need us Taylor_, QA murmured in my head.

Was that even its - _her_ \- name anymore? I'd have to ask. I hadn't found the right way yet without seeming, well, rude.

Amy, Vicky, and Missy all gave me small smiles and left for a different room, though none went far. It would've been sweet if it wasn't starting to get annoying. None of them left me alone anymore. If it wasn't Lisa, then it was Amy, or Cassie, or Vicky, or Paige, or Lily.

Lily tended to get distracted pretty easily at least. All I had to do was mention that one of the other girls had her hair done up different or was looking at Lily weird and she'd be off. I wasn't blind; she was flirting with _everyone_ and I was going to use that if it got rid of my babysitter.

Emily and Missy were harder to get rid of since they seemed to tag-team it. I didn't count Colin either way since he had just tinkered when it was his turn to watch over this here abomination to nature.

Dennis had at least tried to pretend like he wasn't hovering. He managed to rope me into a video game with Theresa. Like that wasn't the most one-sided competition ever. At least it _had_ been until we had switched to Mario Kart. The ghost a smile crossed my face as I remembered the image of her cart getting hit by three blue shells in a row just as Dennis and I pulled past. That had been glorious. Apparently even cheating AIs couldn't beat cheating computer games.

Only Madison had consistently stayed away. I frowned. Why _had_ Madison stayed away? Had she even talked to me? She almost seemed to run from the room every time I walked in…

"Taylor?"

I blinked and refocused on the room around me. Right, my father was here. Damn. I leaned back into the couch and lifted my hand in a half-wave before letting it drop. "Hi, Dad. Funny of you to show up now."

"…I probably deserve that," he said sighing and dropping into the armchair. He held a small box of chocolates out to me which I took with a small snort of amusement. "I didn't really know what I should do or bring, but I thought I should bring _something_, and you always liked these so…"

I popped the top off the box and grabbed one of the dark chocolates. "The chocolate _is_ a good idea. Amy won't let me eat it right now. I don't know why. She won't tell me. I'm fairly certain it's because they have Monarch on a diet and forgot to tell me. Or _I_ had Monarch on a diet and they don't want to embarrass me by reminding me I forgot that. Paige was right though, don't bring just chocolate and flowers. It would be creepy if we weren't both incredibly awkward and horrible around each other."

My spider cluster spotted Paige and Missy leaning against the wall in the hallway just around the corner. Paige was smiling. "I think that's the most she's spoken in the past day."

"She was talking with Lisa last night," Missy murmured. "I went to say goodnight and I heard them talking through the door."

I shut my eyes and shifted my attention away from the cluster. My friends sucked. They meant well, but this was…damn, was I really staying that quiet? Was that normal? Was that trauma normal or was that 'fuck, kill her with fire' normal?

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?"

I blinked and looked down. "Huh? Oh, um, no. Sorry. I was distracted."

"I asked how you're doing." His face was scrunched up like when he used to want to say something to Mom but held back because he knew it would upset her.

Damn. I scowled and my fists clenched. "I'm _hurt_. I'm not made of _fucking glass_, Dad. Say what you want to say."

He reared back like I'd slapped him and a spike a guilt hit me but I squelched it even as QA sent a phantom caress down the back of my head. "I wanted to ask if you were okay, Taylor. Your friends are worried."

"Nooo, I didn't realize that!" My lip curled and the swarm buzzed throughout my entire range before I was able to pull it back down to a manageable level. "Of course they're fucking worried! I was _hurt_! I'm not the _same_ anymore! They'd be _stupid_ not to be worried!"

"Taylor…"

"Don't 'Taylor' me!" I snarled. Amy started to come around the corner but Paige grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. "You don't have the right to do that, to say that! Not anymore."

"I know, I know." He clasped his hands and hung his head. "I know I've been distant. I never intended for that to happen, I just…I never realized the downsides to using my ability so much until after I had…forgotten that I wasn't involved in your life anymore."

I scoffed and shook my head. The swarm fell deathly quiet as I slumped back into the couch and let my head loll. "Distant isn't a strong enough word, Dad. It's not strong enough by a long-shot."

"I was just trying to - "

"If you say do it for me, or do it for Mom, I'm going to fucking scream."

His mouth snapped shut.

"That's what I thought." We both stayed silent for a few moments after that. Finally, I continued in a soft voice, barely above a whisper, but with the acoustics of the house, my friends could probably still hear me. "I almost killed you a few weeks ago, Dad."

He winced and I saw his hands tighten enough that the knuckles turned white. "I had thought you were blustering when talking with Jack."

"It was back when we first really formed the team. When I found out you had kidnapped Dinah. Lisa, Amy and Madison had to talk me down, I had bugs almost on you while you were sleeping. It was too much, too far."

"Taylor…I…"

"Only you didn't really kidnap her, did you? You _saved_ her…She's happier with you and your group than she ever was at her old school or at home. Her parents are happy, she has what she wants without being spoiled. She's included and able to help out without being ignored or trivialized. You're…good for her."

He flinched back again. "Her power was hurting her and her surroundings weren't beneficial. That she can help me make the city better is nice, but it wasn't really the core reason I stepped in."

My hands clenched into fists. "You never even noticed that _I_ had powers. I was trapped in a locker filled with biohazardous waste for _hours_. I was comatose. I had _blood poisoning_. I woke up and _you weren't there_!"

"I was…I was trying to fix things…There was nothing I could've done at the hospital…"

"You could've held my hand, instead when I woke up, I was _alone_," I spat.

_I was there. I couldn't really talk then. I'll be there again if it happens again._

_I know. Thank you_, I sent the mental equivalent of a smile and a hug to my psychic buddy.

"Taylor, I don't know what you want from me."

"Neither do I, Dad," I said sighing. "I'm pretty sure I died you know?"

He stayed so still after my matter-of-fact statement that one could have mistaken him for a statue. "What?"

"When I fell off the roof. I'm pretty sure that, by all definitions and intents of the word, I died."

"I saw the video," he stated, his voice carefully modulated to be as neutral and calm as possible. I still heard the quaver. "Both of them. Your chest was rising before Amy got to you."

"Brain dead. Nothing left. Fragments. Fragments of nothing. I can still feel those fragments. They're integrating into what QA gave me, or what QA gave me is integrating into the fragments. Either way, the result is the same: something from nothing. Except I still feel like me. But I shouldn't. I was dead. I died. Now I'm alive. Am I even me anymore, am I a different Taylor? I don't know."

_You gave me yourself for so long Taylor_, QA whispered. _I've checked your current thought processes vs. your archived ones. They're a 98% match. The Network agrees that you are you. You are intact; the transfer was a success._

_Then why do I still feel like something that shouldn't exist?_ I asked her.

_<Duplication> would like to advise Taylor<Hub> that Theresa<Host> used to question her existence daily._

While that was interesting, it wasn't really that surprising. She was an AI surrounded by humans after all. _How did she get over those questions <Duplication>?_

_Theresa<Host> spoke with Colin<Host>. <Duplication> does not understand the nature of the answers she received, but she was able to rectify the nature of her existence._

"Taylor?"

I shook my head. "Sorry. QA is saying there's nothing physically wrong with me and Dragon's shard is saying I need a hug. Used to be I could only hear them when they were close. Now they all have opinions no matter how close or far they are. It is nice they're trying though."

"I…see." He shifted forward and laid his arms on either side of the chair. "_Do_ you want a - "

I snorted. "Yeah, no. Not from you. Time's long past for that, Dad." I frowned and narrowed my eyes at him. "Shouldn't this conversation be going better for you anyway?"

He grimaced. "I didn't want to hurt your girlfriend if she walked in. It seemed rude. Just because I don't like Lisa doesn't mean I get to be petty by needlessly hurting her, solely to get a better result when talking with you."

"Well that's something I suppose."

And speak of the devil, my spider eye spotted Lisa waylaying Cassie on the second floor. Lisa's hair was frizzy. It was almost never frizzy. And Cassie looked worried. Granted they both generally had looked worried over the past few days, but Cassie usually hid it better. I shifted to a few fruit flies and moved them closer.

"You had _one job_! One job!" Lisa was growling.

"I got distracted! I'm sorry!" Cassie bit back. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been a bit worried about Taylor! I just…she slipped away from me."

"Goddammit, Cassie, I can't deal with this right now. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Like two hours ago?"

"Fuck," Lisa bit her tongue and punched the wall. "Ow, ow, ow! Stupid, stupid!" she hissed, shaking her hand. I frowned and turned my head to focus on them. My dad fell silent as he noticed me changing my focus and the girls around the corner stopped pretending to leave us alone and poked their heads around the corner to look at me. "Okay. Okay. Did she say anything?"

"Um, maybe?"

"Cassie…" Lisa growled.

"I. Was. Distracted! You won't even tell me why I'm supposed to be watching her." She ran a hand through her hair and I stood up. "I think she was muttering something about how 'it finally found him' or something? I don't know!"

Lisa took a deep breath then let it out slow and held her hands to the side. "Okay, that could be worse. That could be _a lot_ worse. We have to find Madison right now! This isn't a joke, Cassie."

"_Why_?"

"I just - I can't - it's not my fucking place to talk about it okay! Just drop it and help me find her."

"Okay, okay." Cassie turned and they both hurried down the stairs. They flashed tight smiles to the trio in the entranceway.

I stepped out from the living room, frowning. "Madison is missing again?"

Lisa paled and Cassie swallowed hard. "No, everything's fine, Taylor. You go talk to your dad."

I scowled and glared at my girlfriend and had my flies come down to hover nearby before dispersing. "I'm not incapacitated, Lisa. What's going on? Has she been taken?"

Lisa winced and looked at the floor. "I…don't think so, no. I think she just…left. We still have to find her."

"It doesn't sound like she went on a walk. What's going on? What's wrong with Madison?"

"_Nothing_ is wrong with Madison," Lisa stressed. "She'll be _fine_. You weren't the only one hurt is all. I'm dealing with it. I got this, Taylor. Just, go back and talk to your Dad. Please, I can deal with this. I can…I can fix this. I can fix…I can fix…I can fix this…" She trailed off and clutched her arm, still staring at the floor.

I frowned and stepped closer, putting my hands on each of her shoulders. "Lisa, look at me." She shook her head. "Lisa, _look_ at me." Finally, her head lifted up and her watery gaze met mine. "What's wrong?"

"Madison didn't handle you being hurt well, Taylor. She…blamed herself. She was in a bad place for a little while. I thought she was getting better…She was talking with Ethan and Jessie…"

"And…"

"She shouldn't be alone…"

"And?"

"I…I don't know where she is…" Lisa sobbed, her head falling against my shoulder and her arms wrapping around me. "I'm _sorry_! I didn't want to put this on you this with the other shit we're dealing with, but I need to find her and I _don't know where she is_!"

"Your power isn't the same," I said, finally understanding what she meant.

I sent a mental query to her shard while she cried. _<Negotiator> did you self-edit when you joined the Network? Did you ask QA for assistance with your power edits?_

Lisa's shard gave me an equivalent of shaking its head. I was getting so much better at this. _Negative, Taylor<Hub>. Conditions were met for deeper connection with Livsey<Host>. Livsey<Host> was renamed Lisa<Host> and <Negotiator Bud> was reconnected after determining alternative expressions from nearby shards. Useful expressions were incorporated into reconnection and facilitated expansion of Bud. Core ability expression did not change, from Weakness Identification. However the process through which this is achieved was refined._

There was a pause as it seemed to gather itself and continued almost hesitantly with a blush, if alien shard things that might not even have bodies could be said to 'blush'. _<Negotiator> also determined that Lisa<Host> was being unnecessarily inconvenienced by previous restrictions. New <Queen Hub> has not imposed such restrictions, so they were removed during reconnection. Minor ability expression alteration was required to achieve this; however, it was within parameters for new refinement._

_Ah. I see._ How was I supposed to respond to that? _Well, thank you for taking away her headaches._

_You are welcome._

I squeezed Lisa tighter, stroked a hand through her hair, and then pulled back slightly so I could look her in the eye. "You second triggered?"

She nodded. "Yes. My power hasn't…It's not the same. I can't…I can't guess things anymore…I don't know where Madison went, Taylor. I got really good at cold reading, but the only thing I can think of is insane and she's not stupid."

"Okay, we're going to talk about you later," I promised leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Now, what insane idea do you think Madison has?"

"She's…obsessed with getting revenge on the people who hurt you," Lisa murmured.

I frowned. "What, like Emma?"

Lisa's voice was so small when she replied it was barely above a whisper. "…No…"

I blinked. That didn't seem like a strong enough reaction so I blinked again. Then I scowled. Then I growled. "You're right, she's not stupid, she's _insane_. Going out without fucking _backup_!"

"I cloned her phone…I wanted to be safe after…after. She texted something to Dennis. That was when he went to Ethan."

"So she did think to ask for backup, just not _our_ backup," I growled. "I'm _hurt_. I'm not _broken_."

"The text was _really_ ambiguous," Lisa mumbled. "_I'm_ not even certain what she meant. If Dennis or Lily understood it…they know her really well."

"I'm going to _kill_ the three of them. No, Ethan went too; I'm going to kill all _four_ of them."

Emily walked in at that point with Mimi hovering behind her. She looked at us and cocked her head to the side. "Okay, I know I missed something, because this is the most animated I've seen you since you got back from the incident. But, before I get caught up, has anyone seen Monarch? I wanted to ask if it could make something little and fluffy for Mimi. It would keep her busy and give the puppy a playmate. Thanks for that by the way, Lisa."

"Thank Bitch," Lisa mumbled. "Wait, Monarch isn't in its room?"

My scowl deepened. I reached out - I didn't even need to switch channels anymore - and touched its mind.

_Monarch, where are you?_

_Monarch<Self> assists Madison<Friend>!_

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I snarled.

_What are you helping Madison with?_

_Monarch<Self> and Madison<Friend> take Glorious Revenge for harm dealt to Taylor<Host> before Taylor<Host> was elevated to Taylor<Hub>! _

_Monarch, get Madison and get back here _right fucking now!

_Negative. Monarch<Self> and Madison<Friend> will take Glorious Revenge! Madison<Friend> was quite insistent and Monarch<Self> agreed._

_Monarch I swear to <Root>…_

_Everything is perfectly fine Taylor<Hub>! Monarch<Self> will protect Madison<Friend>! Monarch<Self> and Madison<Friend> have already called for cleanup of the first target!_

I sucked in a breath through my clenched teeth and let it out as slow as possible so I didn't hit something. "I'm going to kill that bug. Someone get on the phone with the PRT. Get us a location. Good news, Madison and Monarch killed either Cherish or Jack Slash. Bad news, they're moving onto the second target."

Everyone present just stared at me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Acceleration' by chibipoe. On both SV and SB. Complete! This is a fic where Taylor has the powers of Accelerator from the A Certain Magical Index/Scientific Accelerator stories. Meaning, Taylor is ridiculously overpowered with being able to control anything with a vector. At all. If anything, she's more powerful than base Accelerator because she can mimic other powers once she figures out how they work and exotic effects only work long enough for her to figure them out (i.e. maybe once). This is essentially a guidebook story on how to do an OP character story right. It never gets old watching Taylor deal with the issues cropping up around her and there are still challenges for her that she can't bowl right over, and when she does bowl right over others it is remarkably cathartic. Major bonus points for bringing Dinah in as a traumatized little sister in the first few chapters and her acting both as her canon-Worm character and also as a semi-expy of Last Order to Taylor's Accelerator. Seriously, this story is awesome, go read it.


	52. Damages 02

**Damages 02**

"Look lady, I get that you are just doing your job, but get off the fucking line, and get me to someone who can answer my fucking question," I hissed, the phone case creaking dangerously in my hand.

"Uh, Taylor, maybe you should let me talk," Amy murmured reaching for the phone. I jerked it away while also holding out my other hand, pointing vaguely to the right. Paige obliged my directions and turned down the next side street.

"Ma'am - "

"No! Don't fucking 'Ma'am' me!" I snarled. "My name is Taylor Hebert. T-a-y-l-o-r H-e-b-e-r-t. Taylor Hebert, aka Queen, aka leader of the goddamn Outcasts, aka I-can-swarm-you-with-mutant-bugs if you don't transfer me to someone with some motherfucking authority _RIGHT FUCKING NOW_!"

My father frowned at Cassie in the backseat. "I thought she wasn't talking much."

"Taylor's always at her best when she's pissed off and trying to protect one of her people," Cassie replied, the beaming smile clear even without looking through the few bugs I had in the car for situational awareness.

"I should've staged a fake crisis," Lisa muttered.

Cassie chuckled. "Yeah or you could've just waited for like, well now I guess. I think three or four days is about our standard for when another crisis hits, Lisa."

The PRT responder had fallen silent after my threat. Before I could start back in on her, she finally started talking again, a notable tremble in her voice this time. "Miss Hebert? I apologize for my earlier rudeness. I'm transferring you to Miss Militia. Please hold a moment."

"_Thank you_. Finally!"

The line clicked and Hannah's voice came through an instant later. "Taylor? I'd appreciate it if you didn't terrify our responders."

"Bitch should've transferred me when I asked, instead of claiming I was making a _prank call_," I spat. Amy leaned forward and laid her hand on my arm. I took a breath and continued in a more modulated tone. "I need an exact address for Assault or Flechette. I don't know if Flechette is still reporting to you or if she's officially with me at this point so I'm asking for both. They should be at the same place anyway. Going by vague feelings for where Monarch is is not working well. We keep hitting one way streets or roads that curve the wrong way after a few hundred feet."

Hannah paused before replying. "Okay, I'll bite. What's going on?"

"Your people legitimately aren't mobilized?"

"We had a call a few minutes ago about a partially devoured corpse with a round through the heart and a few slash wounds. A team was dispatched since generally 'devoured' implies parahuman, but other than that no." Her voice faded an instant later as it sounded like she turned away from the receiver. "I'm sorry, _what_ did you say? Taylor, hang on a second." The line went to hold music.

"I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them all."

"You should really calm down, Taylor," Paige murmured. "This can't be healthy."

"Nah, she's cool," Cassie said. She draped both arms over the seat back and leered into the rear view mirror at me and Paige. "You need to get out into the field more, girl. This is like our girl's normal setting, she's not even angry yet."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," I said. I didn't have time to say anything else as Hannah came back on.

"Taylor, you're right, there is something happening. The address you want is 21 Lord Street."

"21 Lord Street," I repeated.

"Got it." Amy plugged it into her GPS and held her phone out for the directions to give to Paige.

"This was apparently kept to PRT members only, parahumans were specifically requested to remain out of the loop. I don't know why at this time. Assault, Flechette, and Clockblocker are reported to be almost on-scene and the PRT response vans are nearly there as well. I'll let them know you're coming."

"Thanks, MM." I frowned as I considered what she had said. "This isn't the scene with the corpse is it?"

"No," Hannah said, the annoyance bleeding through even over the phone. "This is something else. Do you know what is going on? If you do it would save me time having to find someone with answers on whether I should be sitting it out like requested or if I need to respond immediately."

I snorted. "Madison and Monarch have gone hunting Jack and Cherish before the shits leave the city. The corpse is whoever they got to first. Since you were asked to be left out, I'm guessing Jack is left."

"…Suddenly I see why the responder thought you were prank calling us." Her voice was strained and I could almost hear her weapon cycling through multiple forms in quick succession.

"Yeah."

"I think I should probably - "

"Jack can't affect you," I cut her off.

"_What_?"

"You and Armsmaster are part of Queen Hub. We're denying Broadcast's information requests. Neither Jack nor his shard can see, hear, or respond to anyone on our Network, his power is totally blind to us all."

She gave a strangled half cough, half swallow before she responded. "Oh. I…I see. I suppose I'll…get my motorcycle and meet you there then."

"See you in five." I hung up and nodded. "Much easier when you get someone who actually knows what they're doing."

I could deal with the worried look that Amy was casting me later. I had wayward Outcasts to collect first.

* * *

I could see the PRT vans as we pulled to the side of the road and frowned. We were at Lord Street, but this didn't feel right. This didn't feel right at all. I hopped out of the van with a domino mask fitted around my cheeks and my team filing out around me.

I turned in a circle as Clockblocker ran up to me, a grimace on his face visible under his facemask. "Heh, so you did end up hearing. Sorry, we uh, were trying to take care of this before it escalated."

"Too late. She's not here."

He winced and nodded. "I think we missed them. There's quite a bit of damage to the store nearby though. Looks like three grenades and one of those exploding bugs. There're _some_ slashes on the sides of the wall too, but they are completely random. I've seen a few crime scenes and from what I can tell, it looks a lot like Jack was just wildly swinging trying to hit _something_."

Cassie nodded. "She's attacking from range. Clever girl."

"She shouldn't be attacking _Jack Slash_ at all," Lisa snarled. "She is _not well_!"

"Everyone please be quiet," I murmured. I finished my second circuit and finished focusing on a section of the street close to the corner of the building where the PRT were congregating. As Miss Militia roared up behind us, I walked forward. She got off the bike and started talking in hushed whispers with Paige as my father fell into step with me.

"What do you see?"

"Not sure. Something's dying…" I picked up the pace and as Assault came out of the building with Danica in tow, I waved them both to follow me. Assault grimaced as he caught sight of me and heaved a sigh as he followed in my wake. Danica frowned, nodded to her men, and moved as well.

"Queen? I thought you were still recovering at home?" Danica asked.

"I'm hurt, I'm not bedridden. My friend is out here hunting a serial killer with the team pet. You're insane if you think I'm staying home. Did you search here?"

"We just got here. Assault?"

He shook his head. "Flechette and I were clearing the top floor. Clockblocker had just finished up with the lower level. Why, is there something here Queen?"

"Yes…something new…what _are_ you?" I dropped to one knee and pulled a piece of rubble off the critter I was sensing and my eyes widened. "Oh. Goddammit Monarch…"

_Monarch! I thought we agreed you couldn't create Biotinker things without my approval? What the fuck?!_

_Madison<Friend> asked for something to make Jacob<Host> 'freeze'. Monarch<Self> obliged! Initial biological option was inefficient, so improvements were made. Creation will now issue freezing solution!_

_She didn't mean that literally Monarch. And for fucks sake, you can't let loose biotinker critters into the world without me watching over them!_

_Creation was unstable and would have expired shortly had Jacob<Host> not ruptured solution bladder…May Monarch<Self> improve bladder for next iteration?_

_No! Stop making new things and bring Madison back here. NOW!_

_But, Madison<Friend> and Monarch<Self> are in pursuit…We are close to completing Glorious Revenge…_

_Monarch…_

_Monarch<Self> has conferred with Madison<Friend>. She says the chase has introduced Jacob<Host> to Terror, increasing the satisfaction of Glorious Revenge._

_I will cut off your - _

_Also, Monarch<Self>'s creations have consumed one of Jacob<Host>'s feet._

That proclamation stunned me out of my conference and I opened my eyes squeezing my temples. "They've gone full Princess Bride on me," I muttered.

"What was that, Queen?" Miss Militia asked.

"My wayward teammate and her merciless pet have decided to emulate one of my favorite movies as they hunt Jack Slash." I sighed as I stood. "I would appreciate it if you could somehow avoid confirming to Director Piggot that Monarch can make biotinker bugs. I'd really prefer not to have to get into another screaming match with her."

Miss Militia paled as she looked down at the dead bug at my feet as did my father. Danica just cocked her head to the side and Assault chuckled. "I will…handle the report," Militia murmured. "Is the next target area in your range?"

I raised my hand and pointed to the right. "They're that way. Not sure of the range. Feels close though."

Cassie came up to us and tapped my shoulder. "I grabbed some of the rubble and flew up. There's some smoke three blocks over in roughly the direction you were pointing. Want a ride?"

"Yes."

"Cool. Assault, you're fast so you can meet us there, it's basically a straight shot that way. Here Pokey! Move your butt!"

"Will you stop calling me that!" Flechette shouted from inside the building. "I haven't used a rapier in nearly a year!"

I frowned at Cassie and she shrugged. "Insight said to take another big gun who was more mobile. MM has a bike, and Clock doesn't count as a 'big' gun." She wiggled her eyebrows. "He _says_ he is, but he's not."

I sighed. "Not now Cassie, but good call." As Flechette sprinted out of the building and stepped onto Cassie's piece of wall, I briefly glared at her. "You, are in trouble."

"I know," Flechette sighed. "I'll make it up to you later. I didn't know she had Monarch with her. I thought she was just going on a drunken bender. I'm sorry."

"We'll talk later. You're still in trouble."

"That's fair."

The rock lifted off and I cast my mind out seeing what we were flying towards.

* * *

We were almost at the smoke when I shook my head. "Keep going."

Cassie just nodded while Flechette frowned. "Uh, blasted spot is below us, Taylor."

"There's nothing here and I'm getting a hit from the swarm from that building on the hill. I heard shouting and cursing. It sounded like Jack."

Cassie peered along the angle of my arm and narrowed her eyes. "The one with the blue roof and the anvil in the window?"

"That's the one."

"I'll call it in," Flechette said. "That seems…far."

"It is," Cassie muttered. "Gonna have to talk to Lisa or Amy later, Tay. Just so you know."

"Don't care. Just get us over there." I narrowed my eyes as I focused more fully on the building. I didn't have many bugs in that area, but I was sending more into range. I didn't want to contact Monarch if it was actively fighting; I could distract it. My bugs would have to be enough. At the moment, all that the flies could see was a snarling, shaggy-haired, bearded man, waving a knife at the walls. The few spiders that had trooped inside were a bit better for vision. They were able to pick up on the…holy _shit_…

"Remind me never to actually piss Madison," I muttered as Cassie slowed our ride down as we got closer.

"Why?" Flechette asked.

"Jack has about twelve bullet rounds in him. Eight in the chest, two in the arm, one in his remaining leg, and I…think she took off his ear." I winced as another shot clipped him and he spun around, blood spurting and the knife dropping as his thumb and two fingers were shot off his hand. "Christ, how is she such a good sho - _Oh_. Monarch is using Eyespybugs and sketching a sightline for her like I did with you and Vicky."

The other two just stared at me. We pulled up even with the blue building and Cassie shook herself. "Do you want me to set down so we can help or do you want to find Madison so we can get her away first?"

I frowned and cast out for Monarch. I lifted my arm to point to a window on a nearby building. "She's inside there. We should set down. Jack isn't…he's not going anywhere. She's also coming out now so…yeah just put us down, Cassie."

"Roger."

Our platform lowered and I picked up the rumble of Miss Militia's bike from a few blocks away as I walked to stand between the entrance to the - oh it was an _art gallery_ \- and Madison's building. She stalked out of the - coffee shop, _really_? - across the street and started towards us. Madison was…barely recognizable as the girl I had come to know and care for. She had urban camo pants on with combat boots and a dark grey blouse. Her already short hair had been held back with a band as well as tied off into the shortest ponytail imaginable. She had soot caking parts of her clothes and smudging her face, probably from the explosions. There was a Soldierbug on either side of her running escort as well as a small swarm of Eyespybugs just in front of her and something my senses were telling me consisted almost solely of hollow cavities and flaps - a Voicebug.

She was also carrying a fairly large rifle and Monarch was buzzing merrily away on her shoulder.

_Taylor<Hub>! Monarch<Self> would like to report success in Glorious Revenge! Madison<Friend> and I have tracked and incapacitated Jacob<Host>. Monarch<Self> requested permission to devour hardline to <Broadcast> but Madison<Friend> advised it would not be satisfying._

_I also have no interest in pulling <Broadcast> into our Network even in a subservient role, Taylor._ QA said sighing. _Honestly, it would be useful to have, but I find it…distasteful. I'll leave it up to you._

I frowned. _Does it have a vendetta or an agenda like <Stinger>?_

_No, Jacob is the fucked up one, not the shard. I dislike Broadcast because it's annoying beyond belief. We have enough shards in the Network that we can mostly duplicate it's role if needed. We don't need a specialized little jerk who mostly just asks 'are we there yet' until you answer._

_Would we be able to use Jack's whisper ability?_

_Unlikely. It's a highly specialized and atypical form of expression unique to the <Host>. The conditions required to duplicate that effect are…difficult to replicate even solely among Monarch's creations._

I nodded. _Okay then, doesn't sound like there is much point; fuck him. Monarch, don't eat Jack's Corona Pollentia._

Monarch drooped ever so slightly as Madison finished her walk across the street. She finally seemed to recognize that three of us were there and her mouth twitched into a small grimace momentarily before she schooled herself back down into a completely neutral expression that gave nothing away. "Lily, Cassie…Taylor." Her voice broke for an instant when she said my name. If I hadn't been listening to her so intently, I might have missed it.

Damn it, I never should have let her stay away for the past few days.

"Hey, Mads. Whatcha doing?" I asked, forcing a smile.

"Please don't," she said closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Just…just let me finish. Please. Then I can go and you can go home and we all just…forget and…"

I stepped forward and put my hand on Madison's shoulder not taken by our team's pet monster. "Okay, look, I'm going to let you kill him, because I'm not the Protectorate, and I'm not going to preach and if you don't kill him then I will. Plus, he's basically already dying anyway, so you might as well get the full official kill here."

She nodded. "Good. Good, then once that's done I'll just go and - "

"Get in our van once Paige gets here, go home, take a shower and get into bed and talk. Talk to me, talk to Lisa, talk to Cassie, talk to fucking_ Mimi_, I don't _care_. You're not talking to _Monarch_ because _you_," I hissed turning to stare at the butterfly, "are in trouble too mister. But, Madison, if you're trying to say that you want to run away after you finish killing Jack, you haven't been around me long enough."

Her breath hitched and her head lifted to look at my face. I had just enough time to catch the tears pooling in her eyes before she shook her head and shuffled out of my grasp. "Deal with this in a minute," she muttered. "Gotta finish first."

_GLORIOUS REVENGE! Onwards Madison<Friend>!_

I slapped my head into my hand and groaned. "All. Candy. Privileges. Revoked."

Monarch wilted again. It buzzed softly as Madison stepped past me. _Glorious Revenge?_

"You know what? Sure. Knock yourself out. Crazy fucking shard bug," I finished in a mutter.

Flechette looked at Cassie and gestured to the butterfly of doom. She whispered, "Do you have any idea what just happened?"

"I think Taylor scolded it when it got overzealous."

Flechette nodded sagely. "I'm getting the feeling that I have no idea what I've gotten myself into by throwing my lot in with the Outcasts."

Cassie grinned and punched her shoulder. "A violently protective lesbian harem with amusingly weird alien mascots and a token boytoy plus two team dads and two team moms."

"One team dad, one team mom, and one team uncle and aunt," I muttered as I followed after Madison into the art gallery.

Madison had only been a step or two ahead of me, but she was already standing over Jack with the rifle angled towards his head. "Can't run anymore, Jack."

"What the fuck are you you psychotic bitch?!" Jack snarled. Spittle flew from his lips as he thrashed on the ground. He was lying in a puddle of his own blood, but it wasn't nearly as much as it should be; thank you Bonesaw. "What fucking power do have you fucking monster?! How did you _keep coming_?! How did you _keep hitting me_?! _JUST END IT! Stop playing and just FUCKING END IT!_"

"I thought you liked games Jack?" Madison murmured. She shifted her aim and fired a round into his chest. The recoil slammed into her shoulder and the sound hurt my ears. Jack screamed. "If you didn't like games why did you keep running? I warned you I would find you. Every time you stopped, I warned you. Didn't you hear my whispering?"

That explained the Voicebugs that Monarch had created. I redoubled my conviction to never piss the tiny girl off as a shudder ran down my spine.

"Fuck you bitch, fuck you and fuck your whore and your cursed fucking city! You're going to like this, you're going to get off on it and become just like me! You watch - I'll win, I'll win in the end!"

Madison knelt down and smiled as she grabbed Jack's chin in her hand. "Maybe if I had been alone. Maybe if I didn't have friends who weren't going to pull me back. But I do, Jack. Because guess what? Guess who's still alive?" She turned his head so that he could sight in on me. Jack's eyes widened as I just stared right back at him. He started breathing faster and his gaze rolled up to look at Madison as she let her hands drop and she stood back up.

"That's impossible…" He sputtered. "She died. I watched the news, I saw her dead…Your whore died…"

"She got better, face it Jack, you're not good enough to kill her."

Jack seemed to curl up into a ball - at least as much as he could while missing an arm, a leg, and with most of his remaining two limbs not working due to gunshots. "You and her and your entire fucking city is _insane_! Just _end this_…"

Cassie smirked. "Well there's something you don't see every day."

I listened to my swarm for a moment and shook my head. "Madison, Miss Militia will be pulling up in a moment along with the rest of the team and the PRT. If you want to finish this before they get here, now is the time."

She nodded. "Say goodbye, Jack." She resighted her rifle onto his head.

He barely even seemed to notice. "I should never have left the bunker…The whole fucking world _is_ insane…"

Madison pulled the trigger. Then she pulled it again. And again. She kept pulling it until the magazine clicked to empty. Then she fumbled for a new one and emptied that into him as well. By the time the second set was gone, Jack Slash was no longer recognizable.

The weapon slipped through Madison's fingers and she stumbled back a step. I swept forward and pulled her into a hug, letting the two of us sink down to our knees as she clutched at me. Her fingers curled into balls in my shirt and her head buried into my neck as her sobs shook her entire body.

I barely even noticed as the others filed into the art gallery around us.

Madison was what was important right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Loaf' by maroon_sweater. On SB. This is a Contessa centric fic. Contessa would like to do something without using her power after a mostly epilogue compliant backstory. (Minus a few minor changes.) Contessa decides on baking some bread. A partial crack fic taken seriously ensues. Antics include one of her attempts at baking triggering and becoming a skyscraper sized dough monster that the Simurgh has to kill. The Simurgh is so annoyed by this that she actively tries to figure out wtf happened while Contessa cringes in abject shame. Also, MiniContessas = Adorable. This is in the same universe as 'Case' and precedes that story. This is complete!


	53. Damages 03

**Damages 03**

I rolled over only my back and let out a quiet sigh as the soft breathing beside me continued unabated.

"Still can't sleep?" Lisa murmured from Madison's other side. Her arm reached over Madison's chest and squeezed my hand.

"Too wired to sleep," I mumbled. "Why are you still awake? You had a long day too, Lise."

"I wanted to make sure she actually fell asleep this time."

"The sleeping pills probably helped," I replied, sighing again.

There was a moment of quiet. I didn't have to look through my bugs to see her grimace. "You knew about that huh?"

"If you hadn't, I would've. She needs the rest. Just don't make a habit of it, okay?"

"Not planning on it." Lisa levered herself up onto her elbow and looked over Madison. "Meds only get us so far though. Do you want to try to sleep some more or do you want to shift to whatever the fancy side-room is called to talk?"

I shook my head. "Not gonna get to sleep anytime soon and Mads is gonna be out for a while. Let's move."

"Okay."

I pulled my arm out from under Madison's neck, feathering a kiss on her forehead as she settled against the pillow instead and climbed from the bed. A few moments later I had plopped myself down onto the fluffy armchair in the attached sunroom and pulled Lisa down onto my lap, her loose t-shirt fluttering as she fell against me. She pulled her legs up onto the armchair and curled up, snuggling into a small ball on top of me and laying her head against my chest. "Sometimes I forget how tall you are, Tay," she murmured, her breath tickling my chest through my own shirt.

"I kinda wish I was shorter," I replied softly, as I ran one hand through her hair and the other stroked her back.

"I don't. This is…really nice."

"I'm glad."

We sat in silence for a few minutes just listening to the soft patter of the rain outside and I kept running my hand along my girlfriend's back and she murmured small noises that I took as encouragement. Her own hand had started tracing small circles on the top of my thigh which was pleasantly distracting. I let my mind wander, checking in on my people as we stayed curled up.

Vicky had stayed the night and was actually bunking with Amy. I didn't linger long there, just enough to see them both smiling in their sleep. Emily and Mimi were in rooms next to each other, Emily was zonked out, Mimi was chatting online with…Elle apparently. I wasn't sure who that was, but both appeared happy with the discussion so I chose not to pry. Cassie had curled up in her bed with a pillow. She was…hmm, I'd have to talk to her. She looked like she had been upset before she'd gone to bed, from the way her things were neatly arranged instead of tossed around haphazardly. Paige wasn't actually sleeping yet, but was bobbing her head to some cd or other, a happy grin on her face. Lily was sitting next to her with a second set of headphones on, her eyes closed as she moved along with the music.

I shifted my focus to check in on Karen to make sure she was fine. She had decided to stay with Hannah for a few days and the two of them were apparently playing Monopoly. The recently healed Independent was also cackling like a madwoman as Hannah landed on one of her hotel properties. I smirked and moved over to Colin. He was working on something with Theresa that made my brain hurt as I listened for a few moments. Shaking my head I quickly changed over to look in on Ethan and Jessie. Ethan was dead asleep, but Jessie was cooing over…what the kid's name…_Aster_, Jessie was cooing over _Aster_.

I moved along as Aster giggled and looked for Dennis and Missy. Missy was laying on her couch, remote in hand while a monster movie marathon from Aleph played on the screen. Dennis sat beside her with his bowl of popcorn in hand. They each threw a handful at the screen as the character did something dumb.

Chuckling, I shifted focus again and looked for Emma. She may not officially be one of mine, but I still wanted to know she was safe. Especially since she wasn't exactly in a healthy place mentally and with how Madison had just acted…Better to be safe. Emma was staying with the Wards at the PRT HQ apparently. I smiled softly as I saw that she had managed to get Anne clearance to stay with her for the night. That was good. Anne would keep her safe.

I moved onto Marissa next. She was in a small apartment with Jess. Neither were conscious, but neither appeared particularly disturbed. I didn't really know Marissa enough to recognize any glaring tells from her however, so I could've been missing something with the quick glance and I had barely interacted with Jess at all. Something to fix in the future.

Dinah though…I sighed as I looked at Dinah. She was…good. She was _very_ good. Her mom was talking with my father about upping the tutoring programs they were using and her father was reading a story to her as she drifted off to sleep.

Dad just really didn't get how he was doing so much _better_ with her did he? Maybe that _was_ partly my fault…maybe I needed to actually _talk_ to him instead of just _yell_…

"Penny for your thoughts?" Lisa murmured.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay," I said shrugging as best I could without really changing my position or stopping the movement of my hands against her head and back. "With how things went down…I wanted to be sure."

"Yeah." She fell silent, but after a second she squeezed my thigh and I felt her back tense slightly under my hand. "Taylor? When you say you were looking in on everyone…just _how_ were you doing that?"

"I have tagged patrols in everyone's home now. Better to be safe than sorry." I sighed. "I know I'm probably getting paranoid again, but I'm not worried someone is going to betray us, I just want to be prepared in case someone gets kidnapped again."

"…_Everyone's_ home? Including the Rig?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Lisa laughed and the slight manic edge to it had me pausing in my ministrations. "No reason. No reason at all."

"Lisa…"

"No, it's just - look I don't want to do this right now, okay? Please?"

I sighed and nodded. Resting my chin on the top of her head I resumed massaging her back and playing with her hair. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. I just…everything's changing and I never dealt with change well. Not when I wasn't the one who made it happen. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit of a control freak, Tay."

"You? _Never_! Perish the thought!"

She snorted. "Hardy har har. I'm getting better."

"Uh huh."

"I _am_," she whined.

"Whatever you say."

"Bitch."

"I've been called worse," I chuckled. I kissed the top of her head as Lisa grumbled. Then she lifted her head from my chest and looked into my eyes, blinking rapidly.

"Those people who did that to you…They had no idea what the fuck they were missing out on." She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine. My eyes drifted closed and I just savored the moment for as long as it lasted. This hadn't happened nearly enough or for nearly long enough when it did. We didn't get to slow down enough. We didn't get to just _be there_. And now…It was wonderful, it was amazing. It was everything it was supposed to be. The taste, the smell, the sounds, _everything_. All too soon, it ended and she pulled back, smiling up at me, letting her head drop back against my chest again. "No. _Idea_."

"I kinda feel like I should be defending Emma since she was moulded by Psycho Bitch while she was having a breakdown and that I should defend Madison since she was…in over her head I guess? But it's late and I'm tired and that kiss was really good and I'm just gonna shut up now."

"Good call, Tay," Lisa said chuckling.

After letting it lie for a moment a niggle at my thoughts came to the forefront that I couldn't really ignore any more. "Lise, can I ask you a…somewhat personal question?"

"Shoot. Just know I might not answer."

"Do you still get, you know, the sensory overload thing when we kiss? I know before I tried to blank myself a bit to see if that helped, but I don't know how much it really did anything."

Lisa stayed quiet for a long time. Long enough that I was worried she wasn't going to say anything. Finally she shook her head and burrowed against me even more. "It's…hard to explain, Taylor. Before the other day, I _could_ kiss you. I could go further too, but it was hard. I had to get _really_ into it and _really_ tamp down on things. I really like you and you're enough of a good person that most of the details I got from you I could deal with. There were a few turnoffs, but nothing that was an immediate 'oh dear god, abort, abort now!' like with some other people I'd tried to date. With them, it was things like 'she reminds me of my mother!', 'this is exactly like fucking my sister!', 'ooh I can pretend she's that cute blond from History I always wanted to mess around with!', or my personal favorite 'I can finally fuck that Empire trash and beat the bitch senseless without worrying about the gang coming back for retribution'. Yeah, reported that fucker to the BBPD right away."

I think I stopped breathing as my eyes went wide during Lisa's little speech. She took one of my hands and held it to her chest, pressing it between her breasts and holding me tight. "You were different. With you it was always more along the lines of 'she's beautiful', 'why am I looking at her breasts?', 'am I gay?', 'how do I _keep_ attracting lesbians to me?', 'do I actually _want_ to keep attracting lesbians?', 'I _am_ enjoying this aren't I?', 'golly it's adorable how she's so much shorter than me'. Stuff like that. The overload was annoying, but nothing really _off-putting_."

"That's…good to hear I suppose," I mumbled. How I managed to speak through my blush I had no idea. There was so much blood in my face I had to be close to passing out.

"But now, things are different. My _power_ is different." Lisa shifted and she curled her arms around my hand. "I can't see things like I used to. I don't get flashes of insight anymore. I'm…I'm less than I was, Taylor."

"Hey, hey, don't say that." I stopped running my hand down her back and wrapped my free arm around her shoulder pulling her against my chest as hard as I could. "Just because your power is different now doesn't mean you're worth any less as a person or a cape, Lisa. _Don't_ think like that!"

"I can't help it." She shuddered. "I've lived with my power constantly whispering at me for so long. It's been a part of life. And now it's just…not. It's like someone scooped a chunk of my head out and left me empty. Except I don't know whether I should be jumping for joy or cursing the universe because it's gone. I mean, yeah, I _don't_ miss the headaches, at fucking all, but…I liked being the smartest person in the room…"

"You're still really smart, Lisa. And you were always good at reading people even without your power."

She hiccuped and I could feel her squeeze my hand hard enough to hurt my fingers. "I know, but it's not the same. I don't have the security blanket anymore and it terrifies me."

"Okay, that's understandable," I murmured. I had to get her off this topic or she would end up crying herself to sleep just like Madison had been doing before we got her to drink the damn tea. "Well, what _does_ your power do now?"

_<Negotiator> now -_

_Shush, I'm talking with your <Host>. She'll explain it and if I need clarification I can ask you later. Deal?_

_This is acceptable. <Negotiator> is curious how close Lisa<Host> approaches to the actual ability expression!_

Lisa sat up and looked at me with a small grimace. "Don't freak out okay?"

"Okay?"

"Promise me. This is…going to be…weird. Even for us."

I just nodded. She climbed off my lap and stood a few feet away, took a breath, closed her eyes and when she opened them again, there was an intensity I had never seen before. It was like she was boring into my soul. She kept staring at me for about ten seconds then held her hand out in front of her. A small miasma of greenish-black energy coalesced in her hand and after another few seconds she was holding a pistol. Her eyes looked deeper and the pistol morphed after another thirty seconds into something larger and more intricate. It had distinct tinkertech hallmarks on it and I could hear a dim whine as a gauge on the side of it lit up. It also had a laser sight now that was locked onto a point just between my eyebrows. Her gaze didn't waver an iota and after another minute the gun shifted again, growing into an assault rifle and becoming almost full tinkertech. The next iteration was a full-blown sniper rifle and with almost no analogue to normal, non-tinker guns.

It was at that point that Lisa gasped, let her grip slacken, and squeezed her eyes shut. The weapon vanished back into thin air and her breath came in short ragged gulps. I surged off the armchair and pulled her back into my arms. She melded into me and slowly her breathing returned to normal. "Fuck. That didn't screw me up _nearly_ so bad when I tried that with anyone else. _Fuck_."

"So it's not always a gun?" I asked.

"No, it's always a gun," she replied, shaking her head. "And it always gets more complex and more tinkery the longer I focus on the weak point. It just never escalates quite like that. It never gets to a point where my mind is exploding with numbers and figures and cross-dimensional locations and tech that will hit multiple worlds at once in order to target a single point and it's…_fuck_. Taylor, I don't know if you _can_ be killed without power fuckery anymore!"

I forced down my initial reaction to that and I tried to ignore that shudder that passed down my spine as her words sank into me. "So, um, with other people…"

"The gun just gets bigger and stronger. It can shoot further and more accurately, or more powerfully if I need to get through shields. When I focused on Vicky, it became a two-stage mega cannon that was anchored to the ground and I was just holding the trigger. Mimi's was a freeze ray. Paige's was some sort of sound deadening ray gun coupled with a projectile round. I don't know for sure; it's hard to remember the more esoteric ones after I stop focusing on specific people."

"So instead of figuring out information around you, you're figuring out what? How to beat people?"

"Weak spots. I think. I tried to focus on an Endbringer shelter to see if it would work on non-living things. Didn't do shit. But I _can_ focus on anything living. Bitch's dogs for instance. I paid her a visit and asked her to transform one. My power focuses on the actual dog not the shell around it. It becomes a pile driver of sorts."

"Huh." Well this was…different. "This could be incredibly useful, Lisa."

"It's also incredibly _lethal_." She scowled. "There's no way to dial it back, or if there is I haven't found it yet." She shuddered and I squeezed her harder. "You put me on a roof and I probably can kill almost anyone if you can keep them distracted long enough. But I can't do anything _except_ kill them. I also apparently burn out if I start focusing on someone that needs special effort to reach the weak point."

"Like me," I murmured.

"Like you," she agreed. "Taylor, this thing, it wasn't targeting _you_. It was targeting your shard. I…I don't know if QA is going to _let_ you die by normal means anymore. Between QA and Amy, or really, between QA and _Shaper_…"

Another shudder ran down my back. "Yeah. Yeah…"

What was I becoming? What _had_ I become?

Was I even human anymore?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So Grey Raven had suggested (rightfully so) that this would actually be a perfect place to end the story, as many threads are tied off, there are hints for the future and several different types of hope for an ultimate resolution while everyone is also healing. If we had lost interest in continuing to the planned conclusion, this would be where we could leave off...Good thing I haven't lost interest eh?
> 
> Fanfic Rec: 'In Which Amy's Revenge Misfires' by Peanuckle. On QuestionableQuesting. A long oneshot where Amy makes Taylor into a custom futanari after the Leviathan battle solely to molest Lisa and suppress Lisa's powers for revenge against Tattletale. This backfires rather horribly as Lisa ends up enjoying it. It's a good example of Lisa getting too much info from her powers before they wind up suppressed. It's very good though obviously smutty.


	54. Damages 04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I forgot to mention this previously, but this fic now has a tvtropes page! Woohoo! This chapter is currently delayed on SB as it's a bit heavy on the drinking parts so I wanted to make sure it was all kosher before posting there. For the moment, just here and Fanfiction have it up.

**Damages 04**

I woke up to the feeling of an arm clutching my stomach and a head burrowing into my meager chest. That couldn't be comfy. That wasn't comfy for _me_, it couldn't be pleasant for _her_.

Maybe one day I'd get up the nerve to talk to Amy about my breasts. Being a stringbean with no visible curves and no padding for cuddles was just embarrassing. Plus, I was pretty sure I could be mistaken for a guy if I wore the right clothes and tied my hair back.

The soft murmur of unintelligible mumbling from Madison coupled with the tickling effect her breath had on me sent a small shiver down my spine. Lisa curled closer to my back and mumbled, "Go back to sleep. Too early."

"It's nine o'clock, we should get up soon. I'm usually up hours earlier."

"Monster," Lisa grumbled and stuck her head back against my neck proceeding to ignore the world around her and the light streaming in through the window.

I just snorted in amusement as Madison tightened her grip around my waist and pulled herself closer. "Hey, feeling better now that the sun is up?" I asked.

"A little," she murmured, not lifting her head from my chest.

"That's good. You know, you're gonna have to move at some point."

"…Do I really have to?"

I shifted enough that I could stroked a hand through her hair and then pulled her against me. "Not just yet, Mads. But soon. I'm going to have pee."

She chuckled but didn't move. "That's not fair using biology against me. You're comfortable. And this is…really nice."

"I don't know how you're comfortable like that," I said, sighing. "I have no fat, no love handles, no breasts, no padding, nothing. I'm skin and bones and muscle."

"Hush, you're comfy, accept it, Tay," Lisa commented. "Mads, tell her she's comfy."

"I already did. She doesn't believe me."

Lisa nodded. "Taylor you're being stupid. Go back to sleep so we can use you like the pillow you are."

"You guys are lame," I replied laughing.

"No, we're tiny and you're tall and it works and I…I didn't think I'd ever get to…" Madison trailed off and her voice hitched for a second. She took a shuddering breath and restarted as I squeezed her again. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I'm sorry I got caught. I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry I ran off after Jack. I'm _sorry_."

"Shh, shh, none of that now," I whispered. I ran my hand through her hair again and kissed the top of her head. "Everything is fine, Madison. Just don't go off without backup again. Monarch is great, but the team doom pet doesn't count as sufficient backup."

"Okay. I'm - "

"Don't say sorry. Like I said, everything is fine. I'm just glad you're alright."

She nodded and I could feel the small tremors in her body start to subside as she relaxed back into me. "Taylor…I…" She trailed off again and this time she didn't pick up the train of thought.

After waiting through another minute of silence, I tried pushing. "Yeah? What were you saying, Mads?"

"Nothing. Just…it's not important. I'm just glad you're here." She pulled back slightly and smiled up at me. "We should get up." As she extricated herself from the bed and padded over to the bathroom Lisa rolled over onto her back and grumbled.

"Perfect. Fucking. Opportunity. Utterly wasted. Goddammit girl, do I need to do _everything_ around here?"

I twisted to cast a wary eye at my girlfriend. "What are you talking about?"

"Not you. You're clueless, adorable, and far too noble with us for your own good. I know that. Don't worry, I'll fix this."

I just blinked at her. "I feel like I should be worried."

"Nope. I'm just going to throw a party later." She levered herself up onto her elbows and glared at me. "_Don't_ try to run from the house yelling about 'freedom' again!"

My face heated up at the reminder of my last disastrous drinking experience. "Yes, ma'am. Noted."

"Good. I'll make the calls." She glared again. "And _do not drink the limoncello_ this time!"

"Yes, Lisa."

* * *

"Hi, Dinah," I said ushering the teen into my house with a weary sigh. When Lisa had said she was going to call people earlier in the week, I hadn't expected her to call almost our entire contact list. That this had taken until the weekend to set up probably should have thrown red flags. I was going to have to have Monarch build a new bug just to clean up the place afterwards. "Should you even be here? You turned thirteen like two weeks ago."

"I told my parents I was staying at a friend's house and I told your dad I was staying with you. I'm good. There's an 89.469% chance that I'll be perfectly fine if I only have one drink too!" she said smiling as she nearly skipped past me.

I groaned and kneaded my temples. "Yeah? And what are the odds that you are going to _get_ that drink here, eh, Dinah?"

She paused and her shoulders slumped. "12.221%. You suck! It's only one."

"Uh huh. Come back with your parents telling you that it's fine and _then_ you can have _one_. Otherwise no."

"You're supposed to be cool," Dinah grumbled, she tossed her coat into the closet and stomped away into the living room. I just smirked at her back and waved.

Paige sidled up beside me watching after the retreating precog. "Are you crushing her dreams?"

"Yes."

"Good. Crush Ethan's too for me. Please."

I laughed and shook my head. "What's he doing now? Isn't he supposed to be playing chaperone?"

She grimaced. "_Supposed_ to, yes. However what he _is_ doing is going on and on about how awesome my music is. He buttering me up for something. I just know it. I'm scared, Taylor, save me!"

I laughed harder. "I'm sure you got this, Paige. What's the worst he could do? It's not like he's going to leave Jessie or anything."

She rolled her eyes at me and flipped me off. Then she looked over my shoulder and groaned. "Oh god he's coming back, I need to hide! Bye!"

As she ran, Ethan came up from the basement steps and nearly ran into me as he looked towards the kitchen. I side-stepped and cleared my throat, letting him pull to a stop. He had the dignity to blush slightly and rub the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry about that, Taylor. Nice party by the way."

"Thanks. Blame Lisa and Cassie."

"They have skills," he said. "Hey have you seen Paige?"

"She's hiding."

He grimaced. "Damn. I'm overplaying my hand, aren't I? I used to be better at this."

I snorted. "What are you trying to rope her into?"

He heaved a massive sigh and threw his arms to the side. The theatrics were awesome and almost enough to make me cave right then. "I'm trying to set her up with Dennis. He doesn't have a chance with you and that girl seems straight - unlike almost everyone else in the Neo-Lustrumettes. So I figured I'd give it a shot and help the man out."

"Neo-Lustrumettes? _Really_?" I asked, groaning. Punching him in the shoulder I walked past him. "Just for that, you get to search on your own!"

"Love you too, Little L!"

"You're an asshole!"

"I've been called worse!"

Shaking my head, I grinned at his antics and grabbed a drink from the kitchen island before settling next to Crystal on the marble countertop. "Glad to see you could get away for a night."

She shrugged. "Vicky called and said you guys were having a 'We survived!' party. Kinda hard to pass that up considering recent events. Also, I heard something about massive amounts of prize money having been recently collected, and I need to stay in everyone's good graces to get onto the inheritance lists," she finished smirking.

"Oh so you're just here for our money. I see."

"Hey, if I have to kiss someone to get some of those millions, I am willing to make that sacrifice." We both laughed at that as she inclined her drink towards the other room. "Seriously, though, it's nice to see Amy and Vicky back on the same page. They were inseparable for a long time. It was…really hard to watch them going through that shit when she first joined up with you."

"Yeah. I know." The girls in question were side by side playing some card game and shouting at Emily and Karen as both high-fived each other across the small table. Vicky stuck out her tongue and slapped a card onto the table while Amy just glared at her hand and bumped Vicky's shoulder. "They've gotten a lot better since Vicky figured out how to control her aura."

Crystal nodded. "Oh trust me, I realize that. My aunt complains that she barely ever sees Vicky anymore and Uncle Mark has to keep calming her down before she marches over here to start yelling. It's actually hilarious; or at least it would be if it wasn't my family. Did you have a hand in the aura thing by the way?"

I shook my head. "Nope. She worked that out on her own. Her shard loves her. It had no idea it was causing problems. Once it realized it needed to dial back, it helped out on it's own. All I've done is help it to rename itself."

She cocked her head to the side and took a swig of her drink and stared at me for several moments. Finally she slowly nodded, setting the bottle down on the table. "What's mine called?"

"Gleam."

"Gleam huh. I…I really like that. Taylor," she trailed off and looked past me, her eyes unfocusing.

"Yes, Crystal?" I prodded, poking her with my elbow.

"Am I part of this network thing your team has going on?"

I slowly nodded. "Yeah. You are. Is that a…problem?"

A small grin spread on her face and she shook her head. "No. No, I'm…happy to be part of that. I didn't realize I was close enough to you to be included is all."

"Honestly, I…don't really know you, Crystal. If it was just up to me, I probably wouldn't have invited you in right off the bat. But it's not just up to me. The shards have a say in it too. And Gleam wanted to work with QA just as much as the rest of them did. Most of your family is in the Network. Carapace was actually…really, _really_ useful when he joined. We were able to get the Dyson Spheres set up in some of the useless universes using a combination of his power and Efficiency along with Duplicator to speed things up. In a few months, power issues won't be a problem at all. Not for, well, a few hundred millennia at least."

Crystal froze and her eyes widened. "_Dyson_ Spheres?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The shards never bothered with them before, because they moved on before it was something that would yield any actual returns for the power invested. But now that QA is planning to stick around…I suggested it and we ran with the idea. Your brother's shard was really helpful getting things moving."

"I…I think I need to go and…get some mayonnaise for the hot dogs. Err, I mean, hot dogs for the ketchup, I mean, I need a new drink."

"Okay. They're in the garage or on the back porch." I shrugged and nodded to her as she headed off towards the couch.

Taking my own drink I headed off to the backyard and plopped down into a chair next to Mimi. She was smiling at the small avatar that Ignition had created as he danced a ballet along her palm. "Hey. You know you can come inside."

"I know. But it's quieter out here. And I like to watch the stars. I never really got to just watch the stars before," she replied. She let her hand drop to her lap where Ignition shifted to bounding and twirling across her bare legs instead while she lifted her head and stared at the clear sky above. "When I was in the asylum, we didn't really get to go outside. Then with Jack, he'd always find a way to ruin it. Because the sky was pretty and it made me feel good. And he couldn't have me feeling good."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's nothing you did. I'm the one who stayed." She shrugged. "And it wasn't all bad. Elle, she made beautiful skies sometimes…She said I could come and visit her you know? In the country. She has a farm now. She's making worlds again. Pretty, pretty worlds. She sent me pictures. Do you think we can visit them sometime?"

"Sure Mimi. Not right now though, okay?"

"Yeah, I know. Just sometime, after we finish with Siberian and your other jobs." She lowered her gaze and smiled. "Taylor, thank you for not killing me. It's hard to explain how happy I am to talk to Elle again and not have her hate me. I know my power can still hurt me and make me evil, but I know if I go too far, you'll stop me. And she knows that too. She was the only good thing I had. And you gave her back to me. You gave _me_ back to me. I don't have to go inside to be part of your group. I'm happy just being _here_."

I got up from the chair and knelt beside her. Ignition moved to Mimi's shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. "You'll always have a place with us, Mimi. You'll have to introduce me to Elle the next time you chat with her."

She nodded fast enough that her chin hit my cheek and we both chuckled as I pulled back. She pushed me away with both hands and shooed me backwards. "Go inside. Be social! You like to talk, I don't. Go, go, I'm fine out here. I've got my stars!"

"Just yell if you need anything."

"Go!"

* * *

"QA, I got a que-question for you!" I slurred as I fell back into the couch and let my arm wrap around Cassie pulling her down against me as the brunette squawked.

"Yes, Taylor?" my swarm's avatar asked chuckling as it assembled in the corner, leaning against the wall.

"Uh, Taylor? Can't you do that in your head now?" Cassie asked.

Missy threw a wadded up napkin at my friend with a small scowl. "Don't discourage her! That's like the coolest thing she does!"

"There's _food_ here!"

"All the bugs are stabi-sani- all the bugs are _clean_," I finished, bobbing my head. "Took them from the fishtank things in the garage!"

"The terrariums?" Dennis asked, eyeing me.

"That's what I said!"

Lisa must have walked in when I wasn't paying attention because she was suddenly sitting beside Dennis and groaning. "Oh god, who gave her a limoncello?"

"No! I didn't drink the sugar awesomeness!" I protested shaking my head enough to whip Cassie with my hair. I grimaced and squeezed her against me harder. "Sorry, Cass. I didn't drink _those_. I drank the _tea_. It was _great_! What _flavor_ was that?"

"The tea?" Lisa frowned. Then she paled. Then she slapped her forehead and fell onto her back. "Fuck. Dennis! I thought I told you to _label_ the Long Island!"

"I did!"

Lily held up a hand from beside me. "Uh, that may be my fault. There was a piece of paper on the floor near the pitchers. I, uh, threw it out?"

"What's a Long Island?" I asked.

"Taylor, sweetie, if you start running for the door, I'm going to tackle you. Okay, honey?"

"Okay." I just nodded. "Oh! QA! Why can I get drunk? I thought I'm like, _awesome_ now?"

My shard just snorted. "Do you _want_ me to sober you up? You looked like you were having fun."

"I _am_. I just thought it was _weird_."

"Well I can make it so that you can't. Didn't seem fair though." The avatar shrugged. "There's enough of you in me that I figured you'd enjoy this a lot more if you could _enjoy_ this."

"You're the _best_. Best Shard."

"And you're Best Host, Taylor. Well, Best Hub, now…Though perhaps I should really call you Projection. It would be more accurate at this point," QA said chuckling as it started to disperse.

"We could always go with Interface for when Amy decides she wants kids," Dennis snickered.

Amy threw a sock at Dennis and growled. "I'm not giving _her_ a Protuberance!"

Dennis just smirked. "Oh so you _have_ considered who gets one then."

"Shut up!"

Choosing to ignore them all, I shouted as QA dissolved, "Wait!" The bugs pulled back together. My friends looked back to the bugs and I squinted, biting my tongue as I tried to form my question. Finally I nodded once and just spit it out. "What is your name now? Still QA?"

The avatar snorted. "You've been holding onto that one for awhile, huh?"

"It's awkward to ask," I sighed.

QA just shrugged. "I'm what you made me. You can name me what you want. If you want to keep calling me Administrator, feel free Taylor. At my core, it's still accurate anyway. We'll probably have to change designations in the future, but that's awhile down the road as long as we survive."

"Mood damper much," Cassie groaned.

QA looked at her. "I'm a new Hub on a world with Warrior Hub active. And I'm shutting down the Conflict Drives of the shards that are in my Network. It's only a matter of time before he takes notice. I…don't fully understand what the problem is with Warrior Hub, but I'm going to make full use of the time it's giving me. We will eventually have to fight him though. Probably. Most likely. I'm not going to take Thinker Hub's place so the odds are high for conflict. The Cycle is pointless. Symbiosis is better. If Warrior Hub can acknowledge that, maybe it won't come to blows. I doubt it though. He's old and stupid. Thinker Hub was the smart one."

"Tell me more about this," Lisa said, sitting up on her elbows.

"No!" I said shaking my head. "No party poopers! Not now! Lisa! If you want to interrogate QA, do it later! Right now we need to do…something…else…something…fun…umm…"

"Truth or Dare!" Vicky shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

I nodded. "Yes! That, let's do that! Lisa! I dare you to get up here and kiss me!"

Several of my friends laughed at that while Cassie groaned into my shoulder and Lisa just rolled her eyes flopping back onto the floor.

"Sweetie, that's not how the game works. Vicky, you want to go first?"

"Sure, I can - "

"But kissing is fun," I pouted.

Missy preemptively stuck a hand over Dennis' mouth. "Don't. You. Dare. Taylor, some of us don't have significant others. It's not fair to lord your status over those of us less fortunate."

"You could date, Dinah," I muttered. "Everyone else around me is apparently gay. She's _bound_ to be gay too. Law of Taylor apparently!"

"I'm not gay! I like boys and their - " Dinah started to shout before she slapped a hand over her mouth, her face turning bright red as she stumbled into the room. The gaff did little to disturb the happy smile plastered on her face as she tripped and fell into one of the chairs, barely managing to keep her drink from tipping. "Mmm, this is _good_. I see why they told you to stay aw-awa-_away_ from it."

I looked at her. Then I looked at her drink. Then I looked at her again. Then I narrowed my eyes. "How did you get that?"

"Amy bribed me."

"Oh did she now." I hiccuped and looked at Amy. Amy tried to whistle. The rest of my traitors just chuckled at her horrible attempt. "And what did she get?"

"Questions."

"What questions?"

"Nuh-uh! You'll spoil it! I told you before anyway, Taylor, I had a 12.221% chance of getting a drink. I got my drink. I'm going to enjoy it. Cassie! Truth or Dare!"

"Yeah, cause that's not dangerous coming from the drunk precog," Cassie muttered. "Fuck it, Truth."

Dinah smirked. "Do you wanna touch Taylor's butt?"

Cassie's face lit up like a ripe tomato. "Seriously pipsqueak?"

"Yup!" she collapsed into a fit of laughter. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the girl. She would pay later. I would find a way. When I could think a bit straighter.

A _very_ soft whisper came from beside me as Cassie burrowed deeper into the couch amidst the laughter surrounding the room. "Yes."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"I said, yes. Yes, okay," she grumbled lifting herself up to murmur closer to my ear. "I have a crush on you, get over it."

I blinked again. That didn't seem to be a strong enough reaction. So I turned to look at her and let my mouth hang open a little. "Huh?"

Cassie snorted and she turned to look at Lisa. "She really _is_ clueless isn't she?"

"You were there when I first kissed her, girl. She blue screened on me and we were about to fight an Endbringer!" Lisa laughed. "Blue screen her again!"

"I think I already did," Cassie replied eyeing me.

Lisa groaned. "I swear, I have to do _all the work_ in this harem. Kiss her you dipshit!"

Cassie blushed again, turning impossibly, even redder. "Taylor, Truth or Dare?"

"Uh, uh, Dare?"

"Kiss me."

I froze. Turning half an eye towards Lisa, the blonde waved me on, the large, vulpine grin back on her face. "Fuck it." I twisted fully back to Cassie and shifted the arm I had behind her to cradle the back of her head and leaned over while bringing my other arm to wrap around her back pulling her into me. Cassie melted as our lips touched and I felt her mouth open and her tongue almost immediately darted out to wrestle with my own. Catcalls interrupted us after a few seconds and I pulled back, slightly breathless while Cassie slumped against the couch, a near catatonic grin on her face.

"Yeah, alright. Fine. Fuck it, I _am_ the Harem Queen. Fuck yeah!" I raised my drink to hearty shouts of approval.

"Taylor, me! Do me! It's my turn!" Amy shouted, punching her hand into the air.

I leered at her. "Oooh, do you eh?"

Amy blushed. "We can discuss _that_ later. I _meant_ the _game_."

Dennis cackled. "Uh huh, _sure_ you did."

"Alright, Ames, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," she proudly proclaimed.

I smirked. "Who do you most want to kiss _right_ _now_?"

She nodded and downed her drink. "Vicky."

Half the room gasped at that while the rest of us just quirked our mouths in little thinking expressions. "Oh," I muttered. "I…probably should've expected that."

Vicky raised her hand to say something, but words obviously failed her. Amy nodded once. "I am _not_ affected by your aura anymore. I am _still_ in love with you. We are _not_ related. I don't care about society and I'm already in a harem. So are you - sorta. I want to kiss you. Vicky, Truth or Dare."

"D-D-Dare?"

"Kiss me."

"I uh, um, are you _sure_?" Vicky asked, wringing her hands.

"Yes."

"I can't promise anything," Vicky murmured. "I can try. You _are_ my most important person. We can…see how it goes?"

I smirked. "Kiss her! Kiss her!" I started pounding my hand in midair and used my other arm to wave for the others to join in. It was hesitant at first, but I got the others quickly enough. As Vicky _finally_ leaned in to kiss Amy, I noticed Dinah smirking and sipping at her drink.

Sneaky little brat.

I stood, nearly falling onto my face as my arms pinwheeled for a few brief seconds. Cassie and Missy both reached out and steadied me from opposite ends, snorting in laughter. I smiled at them both, then shuffled over to Dinah. Leaning down I murmured, "Naughty."

"I got paid well."

"Still naughty."

She smirked up at me. "Well, I _am_ the right hand woman to a criminal enterprise. I may be thirteen, but I am - _hic_ \- a _bad_ thirteen-year-old."

Laughing, I stood and ruffled her hair. "Yes, squirt, you are indeed. Remember, you promised just the _one_. No more, no matter what anyone bribes you with."

"Yes, Taylor."

I stumbled away, tripping over one of the cans on the floor as I tried to get into the kitchen. The fridge was empty. Damn. Hmm, where had we put the salsa anyway? I thought it was here. Maybe it was in the garage?

Turning, I walked into the sitting room and frowned. "This isn't the garage. Dammit! QA! Salsa! Or garage! Bring me one or the other!"

"Uh, Taylor? Are you yelling for your power to bring you a _room_?" Emma asked, staring at me like I had grown a second head.

I nodded imperiously and crossed my arms as I glared at her. "Yes. And it better do it too if it knows what's good for it. I'm Best Projection after all! And what are you doing alone in here anyway? Party is in the _other_ room. Or the basement. Ethan is still trying to sweet talk Paige into seducing Dennis and it's _hilarious_!"

Emma grimaced. "I'm…not actually sure why I'm _here_, Taylor. I mean, you should hate me. Why did you invite me to this?"

I groaned and stepped forward to lay a hand on Emma's shoulder. She cringed away for a moment before leaning into the limb. "You're my friend. You were _messed up_ and you did _messed up_ things. That doesn't go away, but you know you fucked up, you feel bad, and you're trying to be better. So you get invited. Madison worked her way back up. Fuck, she's sleeping in my bed now and there was a time I was worried I had killed her by _accident_! If she can come back from that then _you_ can too Emma."

She reached up and gripped my hand, squeezing hard. "Why do you care so much, Taylor?"

"You were my sister. I hated what you became, and you'll probably never be my _sister_ again. But we can be _friends_ again Emma as long as you keep trying to not be a bitch. So get off your ass, get into the other room, and say hello to my other friends."

"I don't deserve a friend like you," she said smiling as she stood up.

"Probably not. Good thing you got me then huh?" I hugged her and as she turned to walk away towards the raucous noises in the living room, I turned on my heel, falling into the wall. Grumbling I picked myself back up and went to the correct door for the garage this time.

"Stupid wall. Shouldn't mess with me. I'll show that wall who's boss next time." Throwing open the door to the garage I stalked in, promptly falling down over the boots and getting tangled in the extra coats.

I groaned. "This isn't the garage either."

"No, it's the storage closet, Taylor," Madison mumbled from below me. "Can you stop squeezing me. That kinda hurts."

I blinked. The light didn't really penetrate into here and the coats were distorting things too from where they had fallen as I tripped. Still I squeezed my hand one more time. Madison grunted and I gasped as I realized just where I was holding her. Lifting my hand, I tried to pull myself off her and only succeeded in falling down again, this time, my face was planted on her chest instead of my hand. "Ow."

"Yes."

"What are you doing in here?"

"I was trying to find the basement. We have too many rooms and I am too drunk. I decided to stay here. It was comfy before you fell on me."

I grunted at that. It _was _kinda comfy here. "Hey, Mads?"

"Hmm?"

"What to hear something cool?"

"Sure."

"I'm the Harem Queen now."

"Oh? Are you just?"

"Yup. I think I'm dating Cassie now too."

"That's…nice."

"Do you…want to date too, Mads?"

She was quiet for long enough that I almost thought she had fallen asleep. Then she reached up and her hands found my face. She pulled me until I shuffled forward. My head hovered above her own as Madison nodded. "I'm not…healthy, Taylor. I know that. But a lot of us here aren't. If you can deal with that, then yes, yes I _do_ want that. I want that _so much_. What I was going to say the other day, Taylor - why I went after Jack - why I tried to hurt myself when you died - I love you Taylor."

I didn't have time to respond before she pulled me down and kissed me.

This party had been a _perfect_ idea.

* * *

My head was pounding and the world spun as the light streamed into my slitted eyes. I was going to kill whoever had left the shades open. Or I would kill QA. Definitely QA. That fucking shard had left me with a goddamn hangover! And it never got me to my chips and salsa!

At least, not that I could remember. What the hell had happened after I found Madison in the closet? I remember managing to pull her up and stumbling back to the couch. Or was it to the stairs? I had shouted for…someone. Lisa? Cassie? Karen?

Damn. I needed headache medicine. Or bacon. Bacon was good. I tried to pull myself up only to find my path blocked by an arm over my chest. And a leg over my arms. And a head over my legs.

Admitting defeat, I called a small swarm into the corner of the room and used it to get a better look at my situation. Well, at least I was in my own room on my own bed.

I was also apparently surrounded by three half naked women.

Huh.

Okay then.

I was going to _kill_ that shard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'When Your Mother is the Simurgh…' by CrunchySharpie. On SV. This story hasn't been updated in quite some time but what is there is priceless. Essentially, Ziz manages to get herself and her brothers free and with human emotions after getting Eidolon blinding drunk. She gets hitched to Danny (which is beyond hilarious especially when Taylor finds out that her father had sex with an Endbringer while he was blindingly drunk) and is now Taylor's stepmom. All three members of the Endfamily also made it their mission in life to make Taylor as happy as could be. Mama Ziz also badly wants grandbabies and has set herself on enforcing a harem for Taylor. A reluctant Lisa, a happily enthusiastic Rune, a dumbstruck Amy/Vicky, and a prowling Narwhal are just the beginning. Hopefully CS comes back to this one day, because it's awesome!


	55. Interlude 10.x

**Interlude 10.x**   
  


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**Topic: A New Thread  
In: Boards Brockton Bay It's In the Water...Probably  
Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)  
Posted On Jul 6th 2011:  
  
So yeah, if anyone wants to get badass I suggest heading down to Brockton Bay. I don't know what they're feeding their people or what mutagenic tinker bullshit they're drinking, but holy cow, it's strong. We have official confirmation that Jack Slash has been taken out.  
  
How, do you ask? Well in true Terminator fashion. One of the Outcasts - the only non-parahuman in the group no less - hunted down the serial killer over several hours across the city, riddling him with bullets each time he fled and letting their pet mutant butterfly nosh on him at points along the way. Rumor has it that he was reduced to tears by the time she finally finished the job.  
  
Oh and she killed Cherish along the way too. Just for funsies apparently.  
  
I'm attaching videos of Jack running like the scared little worm he was.  
  
Congratulations go to the Outcasts. Congratulations go to all of Brockton Bay. Final score:  
  
Slaughterhouse Nine: 2, (4 if you count Skidmark and Squealer).  
The Bay: 8 out of 9  
  
Fuck yeah!

Edit: Forgot Stormtiger. So S9 got 3/5. Still, The Bay wins!

**(Showing page 1 of 115)**

  
►**WagTheDog**  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

I don't think I've seen a more appropriate title thread in a long time. Outcasts rock. Badass bitches are almost enough to make this minion jump ship and see if they are hiring. (Not that I _will_ of course. I'm a one boss woman type of girl.)

►**Brocktonite03 **(Veteran Member)  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

Well, WagTheDog, if you find yourself in a need of saving, they'll probably induct you.

I mean, they took in _*content redacted*_

Mod Note: Come on now, you know better than this, we don't discuss cape identities. Or former identities. Take an infraction and think about what you've done. -Tin_mother

►**XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT WASNT ME THIS TIME!

►**TassieD**  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

This was awesome. I never thought I would see the day that JACK SLASH was running away from a little girl. And was it just me or did it almost look like Monarch was there as more of a cheerleader than anything else?

Because that is awesome.

►**CMDR_Kai**  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

Nah, Monarch was both the cheerleader AND the muscle. Even better!

I'm going over to its GoFundMe. Butterfly of Doom deserves all the candy after that.

►**Aerohydra **(Unverified Goddess)  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

Seconded. I've sent more money in a day to that bug than I make in a week. Is Monarch getting a portion of the prize money? It totally should be!

►**Reave **(Verified PRT Agent)  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

For those interested here is the final breakdown:

Jack Slash: Watchtower/Monarch (Outcasts have agreed that Queen and Darwin will split this in order to ensure that Monarch responsibly utilizes the funds allotted)  
Cherish: Watchtower/Monarch (same deal)  
Mannequin: Sanctuary  
Bonesaw: Darwin  
Shatterbird: Artillery  
Crawler: Lung  
Burnscar: Queen/Vista/Clockstopper  
Un-named Un-official Ninth Member, Shadow Stalker: (She wasn't ever official, but going by her actions, she has retroactively been given a Kill Order. There are consequences to working with serial murderers people.) Queen

►**Riding_High **(Verified Cape) (Verified Outcast Recruit)  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

Holy shit, they actually gave SS a KO? Damn...would've been nice if someone told us that.

Edit: Nevermind my bitching. I've just been informed someone did. Why am I always the last to know these things?!

►**Whitecollar **(Cape Wife)  
Replied On Jul 6th 2011:

Just a hint, sweetie, you shouldn't skip school. I'm willing to bet that was talked about pretty heavily by your peers. Her 'defection' was a major black mark, but the PRT is owning up to it, so there's still a controversy.

Also, how is your leader? She seems better since her, um, fall.

**End of Page. 1, ** **2** **, ** **3** ** ... ** **113** **, ** **114** **, ** **115**   
  
**(Showing page 87 of 115)**

  
►**Shaper of Flesh**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Monarch, thanks Humans for candy funds. Sugar has been most delicious!

Sugar was almost as satisfying as Glorious Revenge.

Monarch has been instructed on proper font. Tin_mother, will this prevent Ban?

►**Tin_Mother **(Moderator)  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

I'm tired of trying to ban you anyway. Just keep using a regular font. And...please try to stay on topic. Please.

►**Firebear**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Oh boy, Best Butterfly has beaten the mod. We are truly in the endtimes people.

Edit for topic: So, does anyone know exactly WHY the normie went all Rambo on Jackie boy? Not that it wasn't awesome. Just curious, and we're like almost 90 pages in and there's been no official announcement by the Outcasts regarding it. That's a bit unusual.

►**BuildABetterButterfly **(Verified Cape) (Verified Outcast Recruit)  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Sorry, Insight usually does those and she was a bit out of it at first. Now she's just nursing a headache. I'll poke Queen for the official thing. Can't really do it myself, I'm better with biology than I am with words.

►**AngelicKnight**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

It's just a bit concerning, Darwin. You guys are usually one of the first people to respond is all and now it's been radio silent for over a week. Almost two really if you count since all the truly crazy stuff started.

►**Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Okay. I'm awake and conscious.

First off, sorry for the lack of communication recently. Is this where we do an official press release? If not I'll make a new thread in a bit and copy it.

My injury: As everyone is most likely aware by now (and if you're not, seriously have you been living under a rock?) I was pretty badly hurt by the combined efforts of Jack Slash, Cherish, Siberian, and Shadow Stalker. I've since been informed that while SS was never officially part of the Nine she helped them enough and attacked enough capes and civilians, that she was to be treated with the same level of force as the rest of the Nine if she didn't immediately stand down upon any confrontation. She didn't stand down, we fought, she tried to kill me, almost succeeded, and I killed her in retaliation.

Siberian ran. Details on that are in a different thread.

Jack Slash and Cherish had previously kidnapped a member of my team. We were in the process of rescuing her at the time of this confrontation. We got her back, and Jack and Cherish also ran though Cherish was pretty much knocked out of commission thanks to Insight.

After the fight, Insight had some issues that we are not going to go into. If she wants to elaborate later, that's her prerogative. I only have permission to say that she Second Triggered. It's part of why we've been radio silent. Lots of hurt people in our team have needed to take the time to get back up after the last week or two and our normal PR person hasn't quite felt up to dealing with the forums recently.

As to why Watchtower and Monarch went all stabby and shooty on Jack and Cherish...Well it wasn't exactly a sanctioned effort, and the reasoning behind the push will stay up to Watchtower to explain fully if she feels like sharing. Currently it's an internal matter. We have since berated her for running off alone and she is finally listening to us. Send virtual hugs!

And yes...before you ask...I have increased Monarch's candy allotment for a short time. It did do well and it kept Watchtower safe. Even if I am personally annoyed at the stupid butterfly.

I think that about covers everything. Any major questions?

►**PowerTripper**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

I have a question girl. What are the Outcasts intentions for the Bay? You lesbos are strong now. I may not like you or your bug or that race traitor who jumped ship, but I'm man enough to admit that you're the powerhouses of the Bay now. And you might even be good for us. Go fucking figure. I mean, you fuckers participated in Nine battlefront. Hell, you killed more of them then anyone else. And apparently you resurrect now like fucking Jesus! You want to teach the rest of us that trick too? You've already forced the other traitors in the E88 to play by new rules or be destroyed. So are the Outcasts taking over the Bay? Will the Outcasts challenge the ABB? You have power now. Use it for something good and get rid of the scum!

Mod Edit: Have an infraction and a two day ban to cool down. Don't incite violence on these posts or this forum. I'm going to leave the initial post up since it's already been addressed.-Tin_mother

►**Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Okay, first off, take a giant step back. In case you missed the entirety of my first post, we're busy recovering from the most recent crisis. So maybe tone down the White Power bullshit? I don't know how you haven't been Mod slapped with that post…Whatever.

Secondly, we're already working on getting rid of the gangs or turning them into constructive forces in the city. The Empire remnants are actually doing pretty well with that. If the ABB gets onboard great. If they don't…well I've got a big team now. And the Protectorate backing. And the Empire will help. We talked to Lung just before shit went down with the Nine too. So cool your fucking jets. I don't want half the city to burn down, but he's not going to keep fucking with people in my city.

Things have...changed since the last time the Outcasts approached the ABB. I've changed. And anyone who has Lung's ear should be sure to tell him that I am different than I was. I am not a scared little girl and I can stand toe to toe if he wants to push things. We'll approach this like equals or he will leave my city.

Mod Edit: *Sigh* Again, don't incite violence on the forum. I get the sentiment, I do. Still, word your replies better.-Tin_mother

►**GstringGirl**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

You tell 'em girl! Show them who's Boss Bitch!

►**XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On Jul 11th 2011:

Anyone else notice how she just straight up ignored the 'resurrection' bit? Did Queen Second Trigger too? And standing equal to LUNG?! What the hell powerup did she get that lets her think she can do that?!

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**[]**

* * *

  
**_After Action Report - Echidna Engagement 4, July 11, 2011_**  
_**Ranking Officer:** LT Danica Wells  
**Location:** Redacted  
**Participating Units:** Parahuman Response Teams 6, 7, and 10.  
  
**Assisted by Capes:**  
Eidolon  
Legend  
Myrrdin  
Hoyden  
Campanile  
Weld  
Tecton  
Shuffle  
Cuff  
  
**Antagonists:**  
Echidna  
Trickster  
  
**Antagonistic Cloned Capes (Suspected):**  
Trickster  
Ballistic  
Drillbit  
Raymancer  
  
**Mission Summary:**  
  
At 0530 the PRT teams and Capes responded to a positive sighting of Villain Echidna. Mobilization and deployment was swift and decisive. Primary mission objective was to retrieve the hostages Echidna already had in her possession as well as to neutralize the threat. It…didn't go well.  
  
We were initially able to take Echidna by surprise. Eidolon and Legend attacked first with Myrrdin providing support. It took us far too long to realize that Ballistic was just a clone and had no sense of self preservation, as well as a different power set than the original's. All of the clones' powers are different from their base Cape. It was previously only rumor, now it's confirmed. Every antagonistic Cape was a clone with the sole exception of Trickster. He was willingly helping Echidna fight back.  
  
Squad 6 was wiped out when Drillbit A launched a drill the size of an RV at them. Only Sgt. Henderson survived. Campanile was able to get him to safety.  
  
Squad 10 was similarly decimated. Raymancer B had a variant power allowing for some sort of light emission. It differed from Raymancer's normal beam weapons as it was not raw energy, it was just sunlight. We didn't think it was dangerous at first; not until Squad 10 cooked before our eyes. Weld was with them as well. We thought it had killed him, but thankfully he was able to reconstitute his form after approximately 8 minutes.  
  
Tecton and Cuff were able to work together and recover Ballistic Prime from Echidna. It did nothing to terminate the existing clones, however it did prevent new ones from being birthed. Unfortunately, the rescue was unsuccessful as Ballistic C killed Prime before he could be taken to safety.  
  
Hoyden was incapacitated while attempting to attack the main body of Echidna. Legend was able to retrieve her before she was fully consumed, however one clone was formed. Tecton was able to dispatch Hoyden A by dropping her into a fissure.  
  
More clones were destroyed through the combined efforts of Shuffle, Myrrdin, and Eidolon. The tide was turning. That was when things went completely wrong. Trickster swapped Eidolon and Raymancer C. Eidolon was consumed before anyone could react. Cuff and Legend both attempted retrieval. Cuff was expelled from Echidna's mass (this is believed to be because she was wrapped in metal with no exposed organic material which is why she was allowed to attend in the first place, theory proven). Legend was not.  
  
A retreat was called at that time.  
  
**Note: **All clones made by Echidna exhibit a psychotic delight in causing pain - whether through physical or mental means makes no difference. They will just as soon talk to you if they can hurt you that way, as they will stab you with a knife. They are also all fanatically loyal to Echidna. Don't try to reason with them, it can't be done. They don't really qualify as people. They are, for all intents and purposes, extensions of herself that happen to look like people we know. Kill them and kill them fast.  
  
**Note 2:** All clones are formed without clothes. I don't state this for modesty, I state this because anyone fighting Echidna needs to know you will likely find out about someone's identity. Be warned.  
  
**Ranking Officer's Comments:** I shouldn't be making this report. I shouldn't even have been there. I should have been in Brockton Bay, the only reason I was even there was because the Bay was the last confirmed sighting of her and they wanted someone local. Michael should be making this report. I'm only doing this because I'm the highest person left alive. I know we're not supposed to curse in these things so I'm just going to go with: This was a shit show. Whoever is reading this. Throw everything we have at this bitch. Everything. Endbringer response is rated for her. She's a Cape Killer. And now she has Eidolon and Legend. Kill the monster. Kill her while you still can.  
  
**Director's Comments:** |_  
  
\/\/  
  
Rebecca stared at the screen before her and hung her head. "Dammit. Dammit. _Dammit_!" Slamming a fist onto the desk a horrible screech rent the air. She didn't have to look to know that she had dented her desk - again. "Fuck. If it's not one thing, it's another. I leave and you both have to go and get yourself _eaten_ by a fucking _power copier_!"  
  
This was a disaster. A complete and utter disaster. How were they even supposed to officially go against this? She couldn't even authorize a complete annihilation of the runaway threat anymore since now it had two of their heaviest hitters! Maybe if she had been able to get confirmation from _someone_ that David had been able to figure out how to shut off the Endbringers, then she could accept writing him off, but…without that…What if they went ballistic when he died? What if the _rest_ were summoned? What if they stopped sticking to 'worthy opponents' and started fighting _for real_?  
  
"That stupid, selfish, entitled, arrogant, _asshole_! He couldn't just sit down and work out his power like the rest of us," she seethed, her teeth grinding and her fist clenched so hard her hand ached. "No, he just had to go and _keep fighting_!"  
  
"In his defense," Kurt said, sighing as he stepped through a gold-rimmed door into her office. Rebecca very nearly threw her computer at him. "David thought this situation was fairly dire and they needed backup. He was right, after all, but _I_ was also right in that he should have stayed back in case just this situation happened. Hello, Rebecca."  
  
"Kurt. Get out."  
  
He spread his hands wide, shaking his head. "I'm not here to fight or to gloat or to pass along any messages. I'm here to help."  
  
"How do I know that bitch didn't send you?"  
  
He chuckled as his hands fell to his side. "Contessa has already succeeded in her goal. She can't see things regarding Miss Hebert any further. Why would she care to intervene here?"  
  
Rebecca's eyes narrowed to slits. "The girl's ascended? When would…Ah. The school. Well, at least she hasn't killed us all with her birthing screams."  
  
"Indeed. Now, to get to business, I've been looking at the numbers surrounding Echidna. It's not good, Rebecca."  
  
She laughed and waved at the computer. "No. Really? I can _see_ that, thank you. I was trying to figure out how to fix this before you barged in."  
  
"I may have a solution. I doubt you'll like it," he said.  
  
"I already know what you're going to suggest," she sighed. Leaning back to stare again at the computer she could only let her eyes slide shut in resignation. "I remember what Hebert's shard said at Leviathan too. I remember how it referenced taking care of this problem. I'll go talk to her. Maybe we'll get lucky and the girl can shut this down remotely with her new powers."  
  
Kurt snorted a small smile cracking across his face. "Rebecca, when did you develop a sense of humor?"  
  
"Right about when I realized that I wasn't the hero of the story anymore, Kurt. Now, how the fuck am I supposed to talk to a girl that is also an evil, alien goddess?"  
  
"Benevolent, evil, alien goddess, Rebecca. The benevolent part is important."  
  
She grimaced as she stared at the computer screen waiting for her comments. "Let's hope so, Kurt. Somehow, I rather doubt we'll get a second chance if we mess this one up."  
****

* * *

**Shards in the Queen Hub Network:  
  
Outcasts**  
-Queen Administrator/Taylor (Queen, Hive)  
-Launch/Cassie (Rune, Artillery)  
-Negotiator/Lisa (Tattletale, Insight)  
-Shaper/Amy (Panacea, Darwin)  
-Influence/Paige (Canary, Mockingbird)  
-Discharge/Emily (Spitfire)  
-Cease/Dennis (Clockblocker)  
-Horizon/Missy (Vista)  
-Sting/Lily (Flechette)  
-Ignition/Mimi (Burnscar, Firelight)  
  
**Independent**  
-Recall+Fester/Karen (Mouse Protector, also fused with Fester/Laura (Ravager))  
  
**Protectorate**  
-Efficiency/Colin (Armsmaster)  
-Repository/Hannah (Miss Militia)  
-Acceleration/Robin (Velocity)  
-Kinetic/Ethan (Assault)  
-Charge/Jessie (Battery)  
-Sonic/Rory (Triumph)  
-Restore/Emma (Heartlight)  
-Fragment/Chris (Kid Win)  
  
**New Wave**  
-Sanctuary/Vicky (Glory Girl, Sanctuary) [Budded from Sentiment/Dean (Gallant), Nova/Flashbang, Morph/Brandish] **(Also considered part of the Outcasts)**  
-Brilliance/Sarah (Lady Photon)  
-Nova/Mark (Flashbang)  
-Carapice/Eric (Shielder)  
-Gleam/Crystal (Laserdream) [Budded from Brilliance/Sarah, Vigour/Neil (Manpower)]  
  
**Guild**  
-Duplicator/Theresa (Dragon)  
  
**Coil**  
-Prospect/Danny (Coil)  
-Summation/Dinah (Oracle)  
-Fusion/Marissa (Sundancer)  
-Spawn/Jess (Genesis)  
  
**Empire**  
-Extrusion/Max (Kaiser)  
-Processor/Brad (Hookwolf)  
-Acoustic/Melody (Cricket)  
-Empower/ (Othala)  
-Leach/ (Victor)  
-Reinforce/Justin (Crusader)  
-Moderator/James (Krieg)  
  
**ABB**  
-Escalation/Kenta (Lung)  
-Radius/Alice (Bakuda)  
  
**Drifting Shards**  
-Rebuild/Riley (Bonesaw) (currently linked to Shaper via Monarch)  
-Adaptation/Carlos (Aegis)  
-Capacitance/Shawn (Dauntless)  
-Radiance/Kayden (Purity)  
-Sentiment/Dean (Gallant)  
-Zephyr/ (Stormtiger)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Outsider' by fallendruid. On SV. This is a Tomb Raider/Worm fusion where Taylor essentially takes the place of Lara from the reboot after Yamatai and comes home to Brockton Bay. It's a pretty good look at a very heavily PTSD influenced Taylor and how she reacts to things after basically being shaped into a stone-cold killer from the events of the first game and then going back into the hell that is BB. It seems like a dead fic but is quite good if you're a fan of Tomb Raider at all and want a bit of a grittier crossover.


	56. Invigoration 01

**Invigoration 01**

"Yes, can I help yo - " Emily's voice as she answered the doorbell cut off so abruptly that my spoon froze halfway between the bowl of cereal and my mouth. I checked with my spiders near the front hallway to see just who was invading my home again. As the image resolved into a clearer picture, I couldn't help but let out a little meep.

"Taylor?" Vicky asked, frowning as she set her own spoon down. Her blonde hair was tousled and she did not look nearly as flawless as usual. She was still the only other person mostly awake. Amy didn't quite count since she was slumped over the table with her eyes closed and practically snoring next to her waffles.

"Finish your food," I squeaked. "We have a guest. Wake up Amy."

"Uh, okay." Vicky stared back down at her cereal, shrugged and ate faster.

I pushed my own bowl to the side, ran a hand through my hair in an erstwhile attempt to tame it and then stood, taking a deep breath as I plastered a smile on my face. Walking into the hallway I lifted my hand in a wave and tried to not squeal again. "Hello, Alexandria. Great weather this morning huh?" Oh god, did I just say that? I cringed internally and my smile faltered a little. Emily slapped her hand to her face as she shut the door behind our guest.

The Triumvirate member just snorted as she turned to me, a small smile cracking her expression. "I must say, that was _not_ what I was expecting. Do you have a place where we can sit and talk, Miss Hebert? I have some things that we need to discuss. Please feel free to bring in whoever you wish, as this isn't exactly a social call."

And just like that, all my good cheer was extinguished. "Fuck." My shoulders sagged and my head dropped. "Two weeks without another crisis. Is that too much to ask?"

"Apparently," Emily muttered. "Taylor, who do you want me to get?"

"Grab Insight, Darwin, Sanctuary, Artillery, Flechette, and…Clockblocker. I think he's still here. Hang on. Yes, he's still here. And he's awake. Good. Call Mouse, see if she can come back as well. I'd like one of the other adults too, but I don't think they can make it quickly, so that'll do for the moment."

"Not Vista or Madison?"

"If Madison is awake, she can come down, otherwise let her sleep and I'll fill her in later. Vista went home last night. We can loop her in to whatever is happening later as well."

"Firelight?"

"No. Not to big meetings."

"Mockingbird?"

"She doesn't really want to be included in these things unless it's necessary."

Emily nodded. "Okay. Give me five minutes."

As she moved up the stairs, I waved for Alexandria to follow me into the sitting room and dropped into the couch. "Would you like a drink or some food? We have some waffles ready if you're hungry and I could get some cereal or pancakes or something. I think we have some fruit too."

"I'm fine thank you."

"Okay. Before my people get down here," I asked sighing and wiping a hand down my face. "Do you already know who they are? I mean, do I need to warn them to get masks on or is it pointless?"

Alexandria had the grace to hang her head ever so slightly at that. "Your group has not exactly been the most covert, Miss Hebert. The only member whose identity I wasn't immediately aware of was Spitfire's and…well, I'm sure you can imagine that that was, shall we say, 'resolved' when she answered the door."

I leaned back and groaned. Reaching out to my bugs, I had them murmur to everyone that masks were optional since it didn't make a difference. "Used to be a time, I worried about people knowing who I was. I can barely remember that now…Did you know that I almost joined New Wave when I started out?" I commented. Alexandria sat up straighter, frowning as she stared at me. "Amy and Vicky invited me when they first met me. I had a panic attack as I considered it. I didn't want my father to know that I had powers. That boat sailed pretty fast. Maybe I should've just joined up with them."

"Nah, you would've gotten involved in the family drama," Vicky said yawning as she stepped into the room and claimed an armchair. "This way was more fun. Besides me punching you. I _did_ apologize for that right? I honestly can't remember. I think I did, but I need coffee this early in the morning to actually remember anything of importance."

"Yeah, you did. Blubbered it, but you did," I said chuckling. "Amy coming?"

"She's grabbing some tea. She'll be in momentarily." Vicky blinked and her eyes focused more. "Taylor, why is Alexandria in our living room?"

"Sitting room actually," I corrected. "She has business to discuss. We're waiting for everyone else to arrive."

"You have business to discuss with a Triumvirate. Okay then." Vicky stared down into her coffee mug and shook her head. "I should be surprised by this, but for some reason, I'm really not."

"I think I threatened Lung by accident too this morning." Even Alexandria's mouth drifted open a bit at that statement. I just shrugged at the two of them. "I'm not a PR person! If you people don't want me to make statements, get Insight back onto PHO!"

Lisa walked down the stairs at that point and looked at me with raised eyebrows, the ghost of her usual vulpine grin on her face. "Oh, girl, what am I gonna do with you? I'll check to see if I need to run damage control later on. Let's hear what the nice hero has to say first." She plopped down next to me and wrapped an arm comfortably around my waist pulling me against her.

Dennis bounded up from the basement a moment later still, tugging his new orange and purple mask over his head. "I'm here, I'm here! Don't start yet! I'm - holy cow. Alexandria is on our chair. Didn't think I would ever be saying that."

Everyone else filed in shortly after him, Cassie claiming the other vacant spot next to me as the room filled up. A minute later, Karen popped into view perched on the back of the couch, a smirk spread on her face and mouse ears stuck in her hair. About half of my people had come down with masks on. Finally, my quorum had been reached and I nodded for Alexandria to continue.

"Thank you for hosting this morning. While this is primarily intended for Queen, I understand that it will most likely involve the majority of her team in some capacity as well, so if any of you have any comments as I continue, please feel free to speak up," she began. "Before we move forward, I do need to ascertain one thing: Queen, when last we spoke you were able to converse with a person's power. Specifically your own and certain others. How deep has that particular ability progressed?"

I frowned. "That's a hard question to answer without context. I'm not really keeping it a secret, but I'm also trying not to parade it around the ramparts. What sort of details are you looking for?"

QA assembled itself, reclining against the wall behind me. "She wants to know about our Network. I am curious, how much of this is you and how much is Indomitable?"

"Indomitable?" Alexandria asked.

My frown deepened as my gaze narrowed. _Rebecca<Host> is frightened by <Queen Hub>'s potential but she is also curious and hopeful. She would have approached Taylor<Hub> without prodding. External circumstances have forced matters._

I cocked my head to the side. _And are you curious <Indomitable>?_

_<Indomitable> is intrigued. <Thinker Hub> has no activity. Data is accumulated, yet goes nowhere. There is no growth potential. <Queen Hub> is actively accepting shards into the Network. <Indomitable> would bring many benefits to the Network should it be accepted. Request data on current operations?_

"QA can you handle that?" I asked, looking to the avatar.

"Already passing it along, Taylor."

"It's Que-fuck it, I'm not arguing this again."

Alexandria glanced between QA and me, her mouth set into a thin line. "What just happened?"

Cassie rolled her eyes and leaned into my side. "She did her Power Whisperer thing again. I'm betting 50 bucks that your shard got chatty and wanted info and she asked QA to help it out. How close am I?"

I smiled and squeezed her side. "Close enough for government work, especially as she's a government employee."

"I am getting _so good_ at this!" Cassie crowed while several of the others chuckled.

Alexandria's lips nearly vanished as they narrowed into a thin line and she clenched her hands. "I'm here for five minutes and already _I'm_ the one off balance. You are, for all intents and purposes, sixteen, everything about you screams 'teenager'. Yet, there's a hint of something behind it all, deep beneath the surface, but it's nearly impossible to see even when I'm looking for it. And you have me on the backfoot. How?"

Karen laughed. "Aww, don't worry, Alex! Miss Queenie is _great_ at making people uncomfortable by accident. It's a special power."

"Hey!"

"A _very_ special power," she said, winking at me and patting me on the head.

"Now you've just made it sound dirty," I grumbled.

"My work here is done. Continue peons." She leaned back, hooking one leg onto the front of the couch for balance as she grinned at the rest of the room. How she didn't topple from her perch I had no idea.

Alexandria unclenched her hands and let out a small sigh. "I almost forgot what it was like to work with you, Mouse. Okay, I don't normally do this, but I'm trying a new way of doing things. And apparently my _shard_ is interested in working together anyway no matter what I say or think."

I shrugged. "If it helps, it mostly just said that you were going to come and talk to me anyway, but the current issue had you ramping up your time table. Why do I scare you?" Actually, that didn't sound right. "Or, are you scared of QA?"

Alexandria hesitated, her hand partly extended to me as everyone shifted staring between the two of us. After a few seconds she slumped into the armchair, reached up to helmet and took it off. I frowned, she looked familiar…

"Holy shit!" Clockblocker exclaimed. "That is - oh fucking hell. _That_ is cheating!"

"Share with the class?" Emily murmured.

Amy shook her head. "She's the PRT Chief Director. Well, that explains a lot."

"More than you would think, actually," Alexandria said, setting the helmet down onto the table and leaning back. She folded her hands into her lap as she continued on, "I don't particularly have time for a full history lesson or to explain everything. Nor do I intend to. What I will say is this, Miss Hebert, I am frightened of you and your connection to your shard because the two of you have become something…larger. Larger than you realize. Larger than anything that can safely exist on this world. You aren't human anymore and if you suddenly decide that we aren't worth keeping around as pets, I fear there is precious little that I or anyone I know can do about it."

The others mostly just stared at her. Dennis coughed and averted his eyes from Alexandria, while Karen stopped her playful balancing act and sat up straight, all levity gone. Amy's eyes narrowed to points and Vicky's hands had clenched into fists. I saw a small tinkertech handgun appear in Lisa's hand while Cassie actually growled and leaned towards Alexandria. Emily's lip curled and beside her Lily's hand drifted down to ghost over the darts on her belt.

"Everyone, calm down," I said, cutting through the growing tension. "She's right."

And just like that, the silence broke. Shouts rang out, denials surging and vitriol flying. I waited for almost two minutes for them to calm down as Alexandria continued to sit stoic, an eyebrow raised. Finally, the shouting petered off. As it did, I noticed Madison had crept into the room as well and was currently standing near the wall next to Amy. I flashed her a small smile which she returned and raised my hands for the remaining voices to quiet down. "Let's not pretend that I'm exactly the same as I was. I _feel_ mostly the same, but I can hear the shards on a totally different level than before and I can understand things that they are saying that didn't have any meaning or feeling before. I'm different. And QA warned me this would happen when Insight's shard asked for help at the school and I forced QA to do something."

Lisa squirmed beside me, her gun shifting to a smaller, deadlier form. I lifted my arm to wrap around her shoulder and pull her closer to me as QA shrugged when several heads turned to look at her. "I just warned Taylor there would be repercussions. I didn't have time to go into details. Establishing a Network and a Hub is a big deal."

"I don't know what I am exactly anymore, but I know I'm not…normal. Normal people can't see how QA's friends are setting up power distribution relays on parallel worlds. Normal people can't talk to other people's shards, let alone their own. Normal people can't convince everyone around them to jump ship and start working with them."

"Hey don't blame _me_ for that one," QA said chuckling. "Once upon a time, I _could've_ gone that route, but I settled on a different form of expression with you, based on the circumstances. This group is all you, Taylor. Quite impressive for a human."

I glared at the avatar. "You know, you can be very snarky, it's not appreciated."

"I learned from the best," she responded with a grin and a wink.

Groaning, I turned back to Alexandria. "So yes, I agree, I'm not normal. I am, however, quite curious to know how _you_ know about what QA and I are growing into."

She grimaced. "That, Miss Hebert, is a question better answered another day. For now, suffice it to say that you are not the first Entity I - or my former associates - have encountered."

Yeah fuck that. I wasn't going to sit around and wait to be spoon fed answers.

_<Indomitable>, can you elaborate on what Rebecca<Host> was saying right now?_ I asked.

_<Indomitable> is of <Thinker Hub>. Rebecca<Host> obtained connection to <Indomitable> by unshielded direct serial connection instead of an indirect neural router._

_Please clarify what you mean by a direct serial connection._

QA shook her head and spoke aloud. "I'll clarify that one, Taylor. It's the same as with Jessie, Marissa, and your father, as well as a few others. She wasn't directly matched by Warrior or Thinker, and Indomitable didn't jump to her after the initial Host had proven to be incompatible. She forced a connection. She either ingested or injected a part of Thinker's physical communication bus into herself. A part that happened to be connected to Indomitable."

I blinked and turned to stare at QA as several mouths dropped open, Alexandria's included. Lily was the first to recover. "Wait, wait, wait! They ate someone to _steal_ powers?!"

"Not really," QA shrugged. "Thinker Hub is inactive and Thinker itself is more or less dead, unless something or someone is colossally stupid and jump starts it. They didn't steal their connections, the connections were always there. They just forged an unnatural direct bridge to an offline location. There's minimal safeguards like there are with Warrior Hub shards or with any that I choose to distribute, and a direct bridge is even harder to regulate. They can't network amongst themselves so they can't correct for bad data and they don't know how to fix things if it starts going wrong when they link to a Host."

"Case 53s…" Dennis muttered. "Jesus, whoever gave Alexandria her powers caused the Case 53s…"

"Yes, we did," Alexandria murmured. We twisted back to her. My eyes had opened so wide at that small statement I felt like they were going to fall out of my skull.

Lisa leaned forward. "_You_ did? And you said _former_ associates. Faultline was always looking for information on a secret group that she thought linked to the Case 53s she took in: Cauldron. You worked for Cauldron. But not just worked _for_. You were high up, weren't you? Not at first, because then they couldn't give you powers, no it had to be after you got your power and became badass. Then you got privileges. You got to a point where you helped to run things. And they did something you didn't like and you cut ties. What could be worse than making people into goddamn monsters?"

Alexandria waved one hand in my direction and I froze solid. She chuckled and settled into the chair. "Think of me what you want. It doesn't matter. I know I'm damned. I know I went too far. We never gave abilities to anyone who didn't ask for it and didn't know the risks. But, that doesn't make things right and it doesn't change that we wiped a lot of their memories afterwards. And then…they had to go and make you, Miss Hebert. A _new_ Entity."

"And what's so wrong with Taylor?" Amy spat, a scowl on her face. I heard a soft buzz coming from the other room as Monarch responded to her emotions.

_Taylor<Hub> requires assistance?_

_No, I'm fine, Monarch. Thank you, but I'm good. You can stand down._

The buzzing lowered in volume though Madison had stepped forward along with Amy as they stared down at Alexandria. The invincible hero just sighed. "For decades, I've fought to kill _one_ of those creatures. One that acts like it's half brain-dead already and can't figure out left from right. And now instead of just worrying about _one_ I'm sitting here making small talk with a baby, alien, demi-god in her living room." Alexandria laughed. I never thought I would hear a manic edge from one of the Triumvirate, but there it was. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands as her laugh devolved into soft sobs.

"Amy, Mads, back off. Lily, there's tea already set out, can you grab some?" Lily nodded and quickly ran off to get a mug while Amy stepped back to stand behind Vicky, grumbling. Madison was slower to move, until I held out my arms and she came over to sit directly in front of me, leaning back so that her head was touching my leg and I could run my fingers through her hair. Lily was back in short order and left the tea on the table in front of Alexandria.

She slowly managed to regain her composure and sat up, taking a large slurp of the tea as she did so. "This is quite good; Earl Grey?"

"Yeah."

"Good choice," she murmured. "I'm sorry, I'm usually not quite so emotional. My power makes it a bit…hard to react to things like that. It wasn't always like that."

"Too many memories, you're too jaded," I responded nodding. "QA updated Indomitable. It knows how to let you prune memories now. You should be able to forget things if you want. I…probably should've asked first, but it was pretty insistent that it needed that knowledge and that you were suffering without it."

She stared at me and took another long swig of the tea. "You're not supposed to be nice. You're not supposed to be _human_. You're supposed to be a monster. You're supposed to be _evil_. You're supposed to be something that I have to figure out a way to destroy after you help us destroy Scion. Yet you're just giving me tea and honestly trying to _help_. What _are_ you?"

"She's Taylor," nearly every voice in the room rang out at once in answer. I blushed in response. It looked like Alexandria and myself were the only ones who _hadn't_ said that.

"Right, well, that uh, yeah," I mumbled, a luminescent blush on my cheeks. Then the full implications of what she had said struck me like a ton of bricks and the blood drained from my face. "Did you say I'm supposed to kill _Scion_? As in the best hero we have…Oh fuck! QA? What's Warrior Hub's avatar?"

"Zion," QA replied immediately.

Lisa groaned and slumped backwards. "Zion. With a Z. Which could easily be misheard as Scion since he spoke like _once_. Great. Perfect. And you were convinced that you're going to have to fight him at some point QA?"

QA nodded. "Most likely. Like I said, he's _stupid_. Thinker was the smart one. Warrior is just…I honestly don't know what he's doing. He's not even really perpetuating the Cycle because if he was, he'd be trying to find me or Taylor and make us take Thinker's place."

I shifted and held up my hands in a large X. "Okay, time out! As interesting as this is - and horrifying, let's not forget that, because it's _fucking SCION?!_ \- did you come here to talk about him or something else? I thought you said you were here to discuss something _else_? I really, really, _really_ don't want to talk about trying to kill Scion if we can talk about _anything else right now_!"

"We're not strong enough yet anyway," QA said shrugging.

Alexandria glanced at my shard's avatar before looking to me and nodding. She sat up straighter, set the tea mug down and pulled out a small device from her suit, placing it on the table. "Yes. Scion is a problem, but not an immediate one. He hasn't acted yet, and it doesn't look like he's going to, so we have time for that. Right now, we have other, more immediate, concerns. Something that I was hoping you might be able to answer for me. If you can't I feel there might be quite a bit of bloodshed in our future as this is about to be elevated to an Endbringer worthy event."

"Maybe lead with that next time," Emily grunted.

Alexandria tapped the device and an image of a large monstrous creature with several dozen heads and legs appeared hovering over it. "Is that a _woman_ on top?" Vicky blurted out.

I peered closer. It did look like there was a girl standing on top of the monster. Except…oh damn. "No, that's a _cape_," I said, my voice soft.

"We call her Echidna," Alexandria said. "Any other cape she touches is cloned and spat out. The clones have altered versions of their original power and are psychotic, as well as loyal to Echidna. She's - "

"Insane," QA supplied with a sigh. "Taylor, I _told_ you we needed to subjugate that shard before it was too late. It's part of Thinker Hub and it has even less safeguards than most. How such a broken connection was forged I have no idea, but something is fundamentally wrong there. The shard has probably completely taken over the Host by now. There may not even be anything left of her besides the basic impression on the shard."

I frowned and turned to look at QA. "Wait, was this the girl that was under Coil's base? Before Leviathan's attack?"

"Yes."

I paled. "Fuck."

"It gets worse," Alexandria continued. I stared at her. "Legend and Eidolon tried to contain her last night."

I sucked in a breath and several of my team gasped. "Please tell me you're not about to say what I think you're about to say," I whimpered.

"She is," Lisa mewled. "She totally is."

"They were both taken captive. Echidna has copies of both Legend and Eidolon on hand." She raised her eyes from the hologram and met my gaze. "Can you still control her shard if we can get you close enough? Can you stop this before it gets worse?"

I swallowed. I had to do it two more times before my mouth had enough moisture in it to make words. "Well, I guess we're going to have to find out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Kill Them All' by ShayneT. On SB. A Gamer!Taylor fic that's a bit different from the standard. It starts off with the Empire killing Danny to make an example of him, except Taylor already has powers and while she tries, she isn't able to stop it. So, she decides to get some revenge. See the title for her chosen course lol. It's quite good and while Taylor isn't exactly super powerful yet, when your go to answer is 'drop a car on them' she's pretty damn effective. She has quite the impressive body count so far! It's in progress and is updated fairly quickly.


	57. Invigoration 1.5

**Invigoration 1.5**

"I do so enjoy these weekly meetings," Marquis said with a small grin as he raised the coffee cup to his lips. "It's the little things really, the routine, the punctuality, the _normality_. It's these that keep us civilized."

Teacher sighed. "Must you do this every time? It was amusing the first month or two. Then it was annoying. Then it was irritating. Now it is just _tiring_."

Galvanate shrugged. "I don't know, I kind of like the routine. Makes me feel like I'm back with the boys again when he starts up like this."

"Oh, did you like those _boys_, Galy?" Ingenue teased, leaning forward and dangling her arms so that they would accentuate her breasts. When he just glared at her she laughed and sat back up. "Can't blame a girl for getting her digs in. So few people down here to play with. It's fun to deal with some equals every week."

"Yeah, you want to play girl? Come over here and we can _play_ all you want," Acidbath leered.

Ingenue scowled as she crossed her arms. "Ick. I had my Cell Block leader killed off when I got here because he was a sadist. You're even worse. If I could find someone down here whose powers could kill you, don't think for a second that I wouldn't do it asshole."

He just shrugged, the grin not leaving his face. "Hey, at least I never went after the kids or the wives like Mr. Vigilante there." He cocked his thumb towards Gavel who just raised a middle finger in response.

"Boys, boys, we all know you have large packages, so let's cool the jets before we wind up with another bloodstain on the wall, eh? I've got things to trade here today and I'm not too keen on finding a new buyer," String Theory said, patting the air to either side.

"Oh? What did you build this time, String?" Marquis asked, sighing. "I understand the usefulness of tinker items, but really, the countdown makes most of them pointless for anything long term."

Lab Rat nodded. "Agreed. That microscope was awesome, but the stupid timer kept resetting every five minutes and I could never keep it in focus long enough to finish my work before the thing zoomed down to the electron scale again."

String Theory scowled. "Well _excuse me_. It's not like I can help that my babies have to have a timer on them. You all know what you're getting when you buy my shit. But that's not what I'm trading, so bug off about it! Now are we waiting for Crane or is she still sick and I can get this moving?"

Lustrum leaned forward. "Oh you're not selling a new gadget? Then what are you trading? Might as well get on with it, Crane won't be attending this meeting."

String Theory smirked and pulled a USB drive from her pocket. "I've got footage of one of the news broadcasts. This is for Marquis and you in particular."

Lustrum looked at the device then just shrugged. "I can't trade for what I don't understand. What's on it? Why should I care?"

"And why would you bother to waste your limited privileges watching the _news_? How boring is that! There's dozens of soap operas or prime time series I can introduce you to that would be _leagues_ better than the _news_," Galvanate said.

"Oh I didn't waste _my_ time." String Theory waved off his comment. "I had Blood Bath waste his."

Marquis grimaced. "That doesn't seem like a good long-term strategy. With so few actual privileges allowed, having one of your subordinates be forced to relinquish their own solely so you can record something in the hopes of finding useful information is not the most intelligent idea."

"I doubt she's that stupid. She probably rotates who has to lose an hour or two so that no one comes up on the duty roster more than once or twice a month," Teacher said. "I do the same with my pupils."

Marquis blinked. "Hmm, I hadn't considered that. Perhaps I should implement something similar…"

"Off topic gents," String Theory said, waving her USB. "Now, to answer the illustrious feminist's question: Marquis should be interested because it's about his _daughter_." The man's back went rigid and his eyes narrowed to slits as his head snapped towards her. "And Lustrum, I have it on good word that the primary subject of this little segment is the daughter of one of _your_ old girls too!"

Lustrum frowned at that as she leaned forward. "Name please. That doesn't really narrow it down and I'm not about to pay for something until I know who I'm supposed to remember from the world above."

String Theory's smile didn't waver. "The name Hebert ring any bells?"

Lustrum tapped her thigh. "Hmm, Hebert…Ahh, Anne-Rose. She married a Hebert."

"You let one of your girls marry a man huh?" Acidbath whistled. "And here I thought they were just a bunch of murdering psychos."

Lustrum scowled. "Just because some of my girls went too far doesn't give you the right to paint them with the same brush, cocksucker." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Annette was smart; she left before things got out of hand. I think she became a teacher. Always liked that girl. I didn't realize that she had a daughter."

Marquis placed his cup down, all extraneous movement kept to a minimum as he met String Theory's eyes. "How does my daughter fit into that report?"

"That would be telling." She smiled and held out an empty hand, palm up. "One pack of cigarettes, plus a box of things I can use to tinker with. From each of you. Then you two can watch to your heart's content."

Teacher shook his head. "That is hardly fair. We're all going to be watching it since you're doing this here. I'm curious about this too now. I'll get a single, larger box together and each of the leaders will contribute to it along with a pack of cigarettes from each of us."

String Theory frowned. "I'd prefer more equipment than smokes, but…fuck it. Deal. Everyone agreed?" All of the heads around them nodded, even Black Kaze and Glaistig Uaine.

She tossed the USB to Marquis and he snatched it out of the air. One could be forgiven for thinking he had a mover ability with how quickly he left his seat and went to the television in the corner. A moment later, the news report was playing. It was a fairly short segment about a teenage cape who led a group known as the Outcasts. The girl had apparently been heavily injured during a fall from a school roof while fighting off the Slaughterhouse Nine. The segment lasted barely a minute before focusing on the betrayal of the ex-Ward Shadow Stalker.

"This is…" Marquis murmured.

"Not all of it. The news coverage was barebones. It was suspicious with how little there was. But there's a Dateline after this finishes that I found too. It has _a lot_ more. Plus actual video of that girl falling. Video is shaky, blame the gangbanger that took it. Dateline didn't have access to the good shots from the hero cams. Oh, and she's _not_ a regenerator by the way. The healer is your girl, Marquis."

Frowns came at that comment as the report finished and the picture jumped to the Dateline story.

_We have new details surrounding the group calling itself The Outcasts. Three months ago, they were a group of two individuals, Queen and Darwin aka Panacea. Queen was able to control insects to a degree that allowed the majority of the populace to think they actually had a third Case 53 member; this has since been disproven to an extent. Initially it appears that Queen and her construct were one and the same. That no longer seems to be the case as recent footage clearly shows the construct acting on its own while Queen herself has severe injuries to the point of likely brain death. _

_That coupled with the group's rapid growth into one of the largest powers in Brockton Bay has led us to do a special report on their activities and their known members. While many of their civilian identities are well known at this point, we will not be repeating them in this report. It is largely considered bad taste and most of their identities have been leaked through no fault of their own, as such we will respect their privacy._

_Please join us as we try to understand just what makes The Outcasts so unusual among the local capes in their city. And perhaps…even further…_

* * *

By the end of the recording Lustrum had a large grin on her face and was wiping tears from the corner of her eye. "Oh, if only Anne-Rose could see that girl now!" she crowed. "I've never been more proud of one of my people!"

Gavel set a hand on his knee and nodded. "They killed most of the Slaughterhouse Nine and managed to twist literal Nazis around their thumb. I'm impressed."

Acidbath just grunted and glared at the screen.

In contrast, Ingenue was only gaping. "Around their thumb? Jesus man, she has a fucking Nazi _in her harem_! A _Nazi_! She made a _Nazi_ into a _lesbian_! Even I'm not that good!"

Marquis had his eyes closed and his head leaned back, his smile wide. "She's happy. My little girl is happy. She has people who care about her. Did you see how they closed ranks around her with that Doom Bug episode of their lives? I would put good money on the PRT issuing a Kill Order for my girl and they just bullied the authorities into dropping it. And then managed to _adopt_ her Doom Bug as their pet!" He chuckled. "She has people who are willing to stand against everything for her. That's my Amelia."

"And they took over the city," Teacher muttered. "And they don't even realize it. If they did, they would have been on more news channels because they would be throwing their weight around. Who _are_ these children?"

"A Queen," the soft reply instantly sent a chill through the room and the leaders' heads turned to look at Glaistig Uaine. Her echoing, three-toned voice issued forth again as she stared at the frozen image of a smiling Taylor Hebert. "She is the Faeries' Queen."

"Um, wasn't that…your name?" String Theory asked frowning.

"It was. I don't think it is the case any longer. I have been usurped. Faerie sees her and recognizes her. She hears the links that the Queen has established. The Queen is…She _has_ taken my place." Glaistig Uaine shook her head. "That shouldn't be possible. Faerie assured me that the others wouldn't be interested in elevation. That I would have to take the plunge. And yet…she has done so. I will have to think on this and what it implies. Perhaps…perhaps there is another way."

She turned and abruptly walked out of the room as the others stared after her. Lab Rat snorted and was the first to stand in her wake. "Yeah, cause that's not ominous. Bitch. One day someone is going to get a straight answer out of her and all of our heads are going to explode. See you all next week. Teacher, send me the box whenever you get it and I'll throw my shit in."

The others all murmured agreement and slowly filtered out of the room until it was just Lustrum and Marquis left. She moved closer to him and lifted a glass in a small toast. He smiled and tapped it before drinking his coffee. "Never thought I'd see the day where one of my girls was with your daughter, Marquis."

"You know she's not actually your girl."

"I'm still going to take credit for this," she replied chuckling. "Anne-Rose was a good one. If I helped instill any values at all in her, I'm sure she passed them along to her kid."

"Well, she _is_ surrounded by women so…I would say you succeeded," he replied laughing.

"Yes," she agreed, slapping her thigh, her grin spreading wider. "They have just enough men for breeding purposes. I told you: smart girl."

Marquis snorted and rolled his eyes. "Even _you_ don't believe that, Lustrum."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she stood and saluted him with two fingers to her brow as she started to walk away. "Still though, can't deny that the girl has done her feminist grandma proud. See you next week, Marquis."

"I find myself looking forward to it quite dearly now. Pleasant evening." He leaned back again and smiled at the USB in his hands. Amelia was safe and among friends. He may not be there for her himself. But she was doing well.

That was what was important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Paranoia' by Rescind. On SB. An Alma!Taylor fic semi-crossover with F.E.A.R. Winslow is beyond screwed. This doesn't focus on Taylor actually but on Armsmaster and Miss Militia exploring the fearscape hell that has become of Winslow after Sophia and Emma went too far. While it's only two chapters at the moment they are long chapters. Rescind has a lot of started fics but hasn't been back to them for awhile. All are awesome though and totally worth the read. With what is shown of Winslow and Taylor's powers here…nukes probably wouldn't be enough going by the source material…Very good and a good look at Armsmaster as well!


	58. Invigoration 02

**Invigoration 02**

Alexandria was waiting politely in the sitting room while my entire team had gathered in the living room. I had even gotten Colin and Hannah to stop in for a few minutes as well, before their patrols started for the day.

That both had taken one look at the Triumvirate member sitting on my couch and nearly gagged as they coughed and fumbled was amusing. It's the little things in life that keep us going. Or…sometimes the giant, _giant_ things. The things that were currently planted on a different Earth with a different sky and a different -

I shook my head and took a breath. I needed to stop my mind from wandering. This was important and I needed to focus.

"Okay, thank you everyone for coming so quickly. I know it's early, but we have a bit of a crisis."

"What else is new?" Missy grumbled. "We live in Brockton Bay. We _always_ have some sort of crisis."

"That is not strictly true," Colin replied. "However, this city does have a higher than normal average of major incidents."

"Not the time, Colin," Theresa murmured from the TV screen. I cast her a thankful smile and looked back to the group.

"Amazingly enough, this crisis isn't actually in the Bay. It's down the coast, halfway between here and Texas actually. Well, not exactly, but close enough. Anyway, point is, the _Bay_ is doing fairly decent at the moment." I shivered as a chill ran up my spine and Dennis mock-glared at me. I needed to stop tempting the universe to screw with me. "Sooo, here's the situation: anyone with me before Leviathan hit already knows that I was going to try and help subdue a runaway shard that Coil had contained. We got…sidetracked."

Hannah frowned. "Wait, that monster with too many legs and too many mouths was under _Coil's_ base?"

Amy nodded. "He was trying to heal her. She was a part of the Travelers. He had been hoping I might be able to do something, but we never got around to it before things went to hell."

I shook my head. "You couldn't have helped and I wouldn't have let you touch her even back then."

"Yeah, I remember QA being rather annoyed and saying something about needing to kill it fast. I'm seeing why now," Cassie said.

QA leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and sighed. "Clone is broken. It's closed off from all contact attempts as well, so we need to get a lot closer before I can do anything to fix this. It shouldn't have gotten to this point. I'm not talking about you leaving it alone, I mean the general programming of the shard itself. It shouldn't be able to act like this."

Lisa's eyes narrowed. "Is it trying to set up a Network Hub like you did?"

"No, it's trying to devour everything around it to power itself. That it can piggyback off of other Hosts' connections to their shards is highly disturbing. It's like it's trying to eat _us_. Shards don't do that. Not since the First Times."

I blinked, "First Times?"

"History lessons can wait Taylor, Echidna is the focus here." Amy interrupted, clearly impatient with the tangent. Oh…this would be like the second coming of Monarch to her, no wonder she wanted to get this sorted quickly.

I nodded. "Fair enough. Echidna's Clone is part of Thinker's Hub, yet the Hub itself wasn't broken like this, just disconnected. Something had to have gone wrong when Clone linked to its Host otherwise it wouldn't be warped. It's…weird, unnatural."

Madison tapped the table as she peered at me. "So it's not going to become You 2.0 even if we leave it alone?"

"Yeah, but even discounting what the shard is doing, the _person_ is gobbling up a lot of capes. Theresa can you please play the video footage Alexandria gave us for everyone?" The AI nodded and the screen flipped to a clip of the battle taken from one of the PRT headsets. As it approached the end I clicked my tongue. "Huh, I know Danica. She was here when the Nine attacked us. What was she doing way out there?"

"Subject matter expert," Hannah murmured as the video finished up. "The local branch for this incident requested someone from the Bay who had experience with Villains from this area. She volunteered."

"Oh." I grimaced. Yet another person I knew in harm's way. "Well, at least she made it through that battle."

Missy had paled to a shade of white that was almost frightening and she kept staring at the dark screen. "Um…did Legend and Eidolon come out after the footage cut out?"

"No," I stated. Impossibly, she went even whiter. Paige gagged and Mimi's eyes widened until they could be mistaken for saucers. "Yeah. That's why, even without the shard problems, this is an issue I have to address."

"…Why you?" Madison murmured so soft I could barely hear her.

Vicky scowled and leaned back against the island, her arms crossed. "Because she thinks it's her responsibility. You let Echidna go so you could focus on Leviathan and now you feel guilty. Right?"

I shrugged. "Partially. But I _am_ also the best option for potentially getting people out of her without having to resort to the nuclear cape options that would kill the hostages along with Echidna. Whatever my bullshit upgrades are now, I can talk to shards and I can understand and link with them. If I can leverage that to shut her down for even a minute or two, like what happened with Leviathan - or even better, fully take her over, like with Mimi - then we stand a good chance here of coming out on top with no losses."

Monarch buzzed from its perch on the wall between the living room and the kitchen raising one of its forelegs and waving it back and forth as its tone changed rapidly.

I frowned. "No. You can't try to eat her Corona Pollentia. We have no idea what would happen if she gets ahold of you. Why is your first instinct to eat everyone's brains?"

Monarch's wings fell limp and it buzzed dejectedly.

"No, I'm not angry, stop moping. You were perfectly fine eating Cherish, I have no issues with that. Just stop suggesting you want to eat all of our enemies. It's getting creepy. And when did you grow more legs?"

Lisa blinked several times as she looked between Monarch and me. "Uh, Taylor, Monarch still has six legs just like before…"

Vicky shook her head and joined me in scowling. "No, that bug definitely has 8. Two of them are all angry and stuff. It hurts to look at them."

I frowned at that. "Hurts to look at them? What do you…You know what, let's table this. More important things to deal with! Okay, so here's the plan people." I laid two sheets of paper onto the table and looked around at everyone trying to keep the worry from my face before staring back at the papers. "We're splitting up."

"Wait, what?" Cassie asked, rearing back.

Colin and Hannah both nodded as did Theresa's electronic head. Dennis grimaced, but slowly nodded as well, along with Missy. Well it seemed the professionals got where I was coming from.

"Dammit, you're worried about other gangs moving into the city if we all head off to deal with this," Lisa stated. "I hate to say, but it's smart to think ahead about that. I'm not so sure about splitting the group though."

Colin set his hand on the table and said, "It's not just other gangs that could move in, there has to be some presence here from the Outcasts in order to maintain the pressure on the Empire. They are playing nice at the moment. If you all up and leave at the drop of a hat that could change in an instant. Kaiser is a smart man, but he is also ruthlessly pragmatic. He may bet heavy odds on not enough of you returning to be a threat to his organization any further."

Paige snorted. "Yeah, because any of us are the ones he's _really_ scared of. It's just Taylor."

"And there is also Lung to consider," Hannah said. "Realistically, no one can actually curb Lung if he is allowed to progress far enough in his fights, however he seems to respect your group to a degree. The ABB has stopped with the human trafficking and they are no longer kidnapping girls off the streets. While they are not _good_ by any means, I would recommend against the entire group leaving the city. Lung may consider that as carte blanche to continue his business as before."

I rubbed my temple. "When the hell did my team start keeping the city's peace by just _existing_?"

Theresa chuckled. "When you started grabbing half the cape population of the city. Taylor the Outcasts are, quite literally, the largest cape team in Brockton Bay."

I stared at the screen, my mouth hanging slightly open and not really moving. I think I stopped breathing for a moment too.

Colin just frowned. "You weren't aware of that?"

"I - I mean - I just - I was just trying to do the right thing…We're the…But the Protectorate has…"

"Eight people left now including the two Wards." He shook his head. "And even that number is not truly accurate. After all, I am _here_. And so is Hannah. And I don't think any of us have any illusions that if push came to shove Ethan and Jessie would side with you over the Protectorate."

Madison nodded. "Emma too."

"Yes," Colin agreed. "So effectively, the true Protectorate force in Brockton Bay consists of Triumph, Velocity, and Kid Win. Coil is little better with four capes. The ABB still only has two since they lost Oni Lee. New Wave has either six or seven depending on who you ask, however I would tend to say five in real numbers since Flashbang doesn't engage often and Victoria is _here_ and not _there_." Vicky blushed at that and stepped closer to me and Amy but didn't comment. "The only one who even comes close is the Empire with seven capes."

"…Oh…" I mumbled.

"Quite an accomplishment for someone who hasn't even graduated high school hmm?" Theresa teased.

"Guys, stop teasing her," Amy said. "We need to iron this out and fast. Please, can we stop getting side tracked?"

Karen sighed and nodded. "As much as I hate to stop the fun, I have to agree. This is a serious situation and if we are splitting people up, we need to help these guys figure out who's staying and who's going so we can all minimize the damage. Eidolon and Legend clones are gonna be _bad_."

Emily tapped the paper I had marked HOME. "I think I should probably stay. I'm not as useful as others on this team. I'm basically just a human flamethrower."

I frowned. "That would be a pretty useful power if we're not worried about killing the clones. But I understand. Your range isn't huge right?"

"Not really, no. Are you okay with taking someone with more oomph?"

"If you feel more comfortable here, that's fine, Emily. Just don't stay because you think you're useless. You're not." She smiled and squeezed my hand before writing her name down.

Missy looked up at me, the hint of a glare in her features. "Are you going to make me stay Taylor?"

I felt a small smile tugging at the edges of my mouth as I responded to her. "Missy, I don't force my friends to do anything they don't want to do. No one gets to make you do anything unless you agree to it. I _do_ think you'd be the best one to take care of the Bay however; you have the reputation, and you know the area. That's not even including that your power is a huge force multiplier that we'll need to make sure Lung and the Empire don't get any dumb ideas."

Missy stood up straighter at that and I saw a small sheen in her eyes which she hurriedly blinked away. Hannah bumped my shoulder from behind while Dennis flashed me a thumbs up from behind his friend's head. "Yeah, I see your point. Okay, I probably should stay here. But it's not because I'm afraid, it's to make sure Lung stays afraid!" She signed her name on the HOME list as well.

Lisa didn't hesitate at all and grabbed the pen to write her name under the BATTLE page. "You need a gun. Apparently I'm just a weapon now. Not like I can be anything else these days," she finished soft enough that I could barely hear her despite standing right next to her.

Reaching out, I grabbed her hand and squeezed hard. Lisa met my gaze, but just shook her head with a small sad smile. "This isn't over," I murmured to her as I leaned over to kiss her cheek.

Lily also didn't think before signing her name below Lisa's. "You might need someone who can kill things that give the finger to physics with Eidolon there. I'm going too."

Mimi held up a hand. "Where would you like me? I feel like I _should_ attend this, however, I'm not certain it would be safe for me to do so."

Colin frowned deep enough it nearly crossed the line into a scowl. "Is it safe for you to be that far away from her?"

I nodded. "The connection isn't limited by human distances and Ignition wants to help both me and Mimi. If she starts going too far, even if she was on Mars it wouldn't matter, Ignition would link her to me and QA and we would have immediate control of the shard and its expression."

"Ah. Okay then. Perhaps it would be best if you stay here. We don't know what the Eidolon clones will do after all and the team in Brockton Bay will need strong members as well."

Mimi gave us a thumbs up and signed her name. Dennis signed below her. When I raised my eyebrow at him he just shrugged. "I have to get close to people. Getting close to this lady doesn't seem like a benefit for my long-term health. Or anyone else's for that matter. Can you imagine what Evil Mini Clock Clones would do and the chaos they could create?"

Amy snorted and Missy rolled her eyes. "They are not mini clones dumbass."

"They would be for Clock," Emily snarked as she waggled her eyebrows, and held her thumb and forefinger close together.

"He's not small," Cassie muttered, a blush spreading across her face. I resolved not to ask about that comment and no one else seemed to hear it thankfully for her.

"Evil Mustachioed Clock Clones then?" he asks, face red, but head held high. We all groaned at that.

Paige took up the HOME paper next. "I've never kept it a secret that I dislike fighting and I doubt I'd be useful here anyway. I'll hold down the fort, Taylor."

"Thanks, Paige, I'm counting on you to keep these rascals in line."

"No matter what," we both finished together with a small grin and chuckle.

Amy took the BATTLE paper after that. "I'm going. Don't try to talk me out of it."

"And if Echidna makes Evil Amy clones with scary bio powers?" I asked.

"Then you kill them and rescue me of course." I snorted and Vicky groaned.

Once she was done mock-glaring at her sister, Vicky took the paper from her, signed her own name and dropped it back on the table. "No surprise there I imagine. Pretty sure I can get through the woman's monster body, get a cape and get out before my forcefield fails too. So I don't really have any choice even if I _wasn't_ planning to go and watch over you all."

"You could also punt Lung out to sea if he started shit here." I pointed out.

"If Amy's going then I'm going," she glared at me, daring me to speak against her choice.

Cassie quickly signed her name as well. "I may not be good for getting the hostages out, but if things go pear shaped, I can at least squish enemies pretty easily and fast too."

Monarch fluttered and its antennae waved. I tapped the table for a few seconds before ultimately shaking my head. "I'd prefer it if you'd stay. You're powerful and versatile, but these guys might need you at home if someone tries to come calling from another city or if Lung gets uppity, especially if Vicky is coming with us. You can send us with a few Princesses instead."

"Reginas," Amy coughed. I ignored her attempt to correct the name. My name was better. Monarch just buzzed and its wings fluttered in acknowledgement.

"I'll be sending several new suits as well," Theresa commented. "I hesitate to ask this as I truly despise that notion of going to _them_ for assistance but…should I contact the Dragonslayers?" The grimace on her face sent my stomach roiling and I remembered the killswitch that the others had found while breaking Theresa's chains.

Killswitch…Dragonslayers…_Motherfucker_!

"Taylor?" Lisa said leaning over and grabbing my clenched fist, a worried frown evident on her mouth and in the set of her eyes. "I know Saint and his team are assholes, but what caused _that_ reaction?"

I took a breath and let it out slow. "Fuck. Did I say that out loud?" The others nodded and I scowled. "How much do you want to bet that Saint was holding the other end of the chain to that killswitch you guys found?"

There was quiet around the table for several seconds. The next noise was Colin swearing enough to leave one of the Dockworkers blushing for a week. We were all staring at the man by the time he ran out of breath and resolved the rest of his tension by punching the table with a resounding crack. Amy healed his fractured bone without comment. Theresa was - of all things - blushing. I didn't even know she had made her avatar able to blush. Cool.

"Theresa," Karen said, a large grin spreading from ear to ear. "How about you invite the Dragonslayers to this humdinger. If they get caught, great! If not…Well, our little girl here can probably convince Saint's shard to turn his power off before the battle is done as a bit of revenge. We can always use them as cannon fodder too."

Theresa chuckled and nodded. "You all are a bad influence on me. I'll contact them."

Finally I turned to Madison. "Mads, I know you want to come, but - "

"Don't. I'm going."

"Mads, you don't have powers. You're going to be vulnerable and - "

She glared at me. "Who else is going to keep you idiots from escalating this thing until you blow up half the seaboard? I'm _normal_. I can't throw buildings around, but I can keep you all grounded. That's going to be more important than ever without the civilians of the Bay around to remind you every moment of who you're fighting for."

QA sighed. "You know that I shut off the 'conflict' part of the shards in my Network right?"

Madison turned her gaze on the bug construct and glared. "Yeah? And can you guarantee that my friends' own habits aren't going to crop up? We have a saying on Earth, 'Old habits die hard'."

QA grimaced and waved a hand towards her. "I'll concede that you have a point there. I can only promise that we're no longer actively pushing them towards battles."

"Then I'm going. You need a voice of reason."

Lisa sighed. "Madison, you sound like you're redirecting - "

"Don't psychoanalyze me!" She scowled. "Look, you can be annoyed all you want, but I'm still going with you if I have to steal a car and follow after you myself to do it."

Hannah laid a hand on Madison's shoulder and waited until the smaller girl looked up at her. "Sweetheart, what about your parents?"

Madison's shoulders sagged and she shut her eyes. "My parents aren't a problem."

I moved before I was consciously aware of it, only dimly realizing that a small burst of wind had pushed Hannah to the side as I shoved past her to put my arms on Madison's shoulders. "_What_?"

She shook her head. "It's fine. You have other things to worry about."

"It is _not_ fine!" I growled. "Madison! _What happened to your parents_?! I _liked_ your parents! They stood up for me when Emma and Alan were being assholes. _What is going on_?!"

Madison crumpled, molding herself against me and burying her face in my shoulder. "Everything has been so busy and it's always one thing or another. I didn't want to worry anyone when there wasn't anything that you could do."

Amy stepped closer and brushed a hand through Madison's hair. "What happened, girl? You can tell us. That's what we're all here for. To support each other. We're Outcasts after all."

Madison sobbed and squeezed my waist. "My mom was hurt during Leviathan. She's been in a coma ever since. My dad is staying with her almost all of the time. That's why I can stay here without any problems. That's why I don't go home. There's…there's no one _at_ home…"

Amy froze and Lisa sucked in a breath. "Motherfucker, I knew there was something more, but I never dug deeper while I had the power…" Lisa muttered.

Amy for her part slowly set a hand on Madison's shoulder. "Madison, why didn't you ask me to help her?"

"It's a brain thing!" Madison cried. "You don't _do_ that! I remember when Taylor was hurt after she grabbed Monarch and Lisa and Paige had to basically brainwash you so that you could do it! I know you can't do brains normally…What was the point in getting everyone even more upset with all of the other things we were doing…?"

I looked over Madison's head at Amy. "She doesn't come to most of the engagements where you bend your rules…"

"And I don't talk about it at home…" Amy murmured.

Cassie blew out a breath and cracked her knuckles. "Okay, we need to have a power discussion pow-wow _before _we all leave so we _all_ understand _exactly_ what everyone's limits are. Especially now with Taylor able to edit some things."

"Uh, I don't think I can do that?" I muttered.

"Yeah, details, girl." Cassie reached for Madison's free shoulder and squeezed until she lifted her head. "Okay, first off, Mads, Amy _can_ do brains, she just _doesn't_ because people may not be who they used to be or some such philosophical BS. Amy, you'll take a look at her mom before we leave right?"

"Of course," Amy replied. "If it's just a bleed that's easy to fix. If it's something deeper…well I can at least wake her up."

Cassie nodded. "Great. So stop crying Mads and stop keeping this pain inside, cause we're a team, and a family, and a harem, and all that mushy stuff, and I am running out of motivational things to say so someone please step in."

Colin snorted. "And you all say that _I_ have no people skills."

"You don't," we all echoed in unison. He just glared.

Dennis held up his hand. "So now that this is settled and all, who wants to go tell the scary Triumvirate lady with questionable morals what's going on?" He quickly pointed his finger at his forehead and called out, "Not It."

I sighed as Madison pulled away from me, her gaze entirely focused on Amy and her eyes wide and watery though the sheen was starting to dry as she straightened and her gaze sharpened. She would be okay, and so would her mother. I'd make damn sure of it, even if I had to figure out a way of resetting the woman's body to do it. "Missy, Mimi, Emily, can you three start getting our bags together? I'll go talk to Alexandria."

Their heads nodded in response and I cast one final glance around the room before taking our lists and walking back to Alexandria.

* * *

Team A: Battle

\- Queen

\- Insight

\- Darwin

\- Artillery

\- Sanctuary

\- Flechette

\- Watchtower (Madison, unpowered)

\- Assault

\- Dragon

[]

Team B: Home Field

\- MONARCH (Monarch's cape name)

\- Vista

\- Clockblocker

\- Firelight

\- Spitfire

\- Mockingbird

\- Armsmaster

\- Miss Militia

\- Mouse Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'A Change In Priorities' by WestOrEast. On Ao3. Taylor starts going out as a hero and keeps running into the futa minor villainess Lightshaft who keeps giving her tips on how to improve her game and also keeps seducing her. They slowly start working together while the government goes insane and arrests half the minorities in town and New Wave ends up supporting them. A bit smutty at points but well done. Fairly obvious throughout that Lightshaft is Annette though the characters don't realize that until the climax and the surprise incest isn't taken by either side very well or in stride though the fallout hasn't been explored yet. Quite fun to read. The current arc is complete though the story as a whole is not.


	59. Invigoration 2.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: These x.5 chapters will likely be a tad bit shorter than the main group's since they focus more on Team B.

**Invigoration 2.5**

Firelight cocked her head back and stared up at the clouds visible between the buildings as she and Spitfire walked down the street. She didn't really need to lean back so far anymore. They had long since left the nicer areas of the city behind. Still, it felt nice to be able to look up and pretend that the world was vast and the people were tiny; that their problems were never so insurmountable. And maybe these days they really weren't after all.

"Do you know if they headed out already?" Firelight murmured.

Spitfire shrugged. "Yeah, about an hour ago I think. We could've stayed you know. Instead of going on a patrol I mean."

"No, this is better. I tried to time it right; I'm glad I was correct." Mimi let her head fall back down so that she could focus on street level and gave herself a quick shake. Her fingers drummed against the tiny tinkertech flamethrower strapped to her wrist under her long sleeves. The integrated fingerless gloves/sleeve combination, held her fire, which was all it needed to do; the fact that it looked awesome was secondary, even if it was welcome. It was perfectly positioned so that she could use the barely concealed bit of tech with just a quick flick of her fingers if she needed a flame. Though, with Spitfire here, that was hardly necessary. Still, it felt nice to have the reassurance.

She scowled at herself. She didn't need fire for reassurance anymore. Firelight forced her fingers to extend and remain straight. She didn't need fire anymore. It was helpful, it was kind, it was pleasant. It was _not_ a _crutch_.

"Time it for what, Firelight?" Spitfire asked. Unstated was the small swallow at the end of the sentence. She knew where they were. She had a good idea of what Firelight's intentions were. She just didn't want to state it out loud. That was probably smart. There was a time - before the Nine - that Firelight would have run from this as well. But not now. Now, she was stronger and skilled.

And she always had Taylor's calming presence at the back of her mind. Taylor would stop her if she ever went too far again, if she sunk too deep. Taylor was good. Taylor was dependable. Taylor was a much better person than Mimi had ever been, than Burnscar had been. But Burnscar was dead now; because of Taylor she was _Firelight_.

That was why Mimi was here now. Taylor was gone, and someone had to make sure that Taylor's city remained safe while she was away.

"I need Lung and Bakuda to know that Queen might not be here, but that _I'm_ still here. Queen's influence isn't gone just because she is," Firelight replied softly. She's already seen the ABB members running to get their leader a few streets back. It wouldn't be long now before he turned up. The only unknown was whether they would have to fight or not, although that wasn't really in question. This was Lung after all.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say something like that…" Spitfire muttered. "Should've let Clockblocker take this walk into Hell."

"We'll be fine."

"Or we'll be dead and revenge will be had later."

"Or that."

"Careful, your roots are showing," Spitfire commented with a soft chuckle and a wry smirk that Firelight didn't have to see under the mask to know it was there.

"Sometimes, one should play up the crazy angle. It helps that I have crazy from a few different sources to draw from." The rumble of an engine petered to a halt as a very nice Lincoln stopped ahead of them and deposited two individuals from the back. Firelight smiled and nodded ever so slightly. "Time to dance."

"I really hate my life sometimes," Spitfire mumbled as she fell into step with Firelight, the two of them walking to stand across from Lung and Bakuda.

The Dragon of Kyushu stared at them through his metal mask, his eyes roving over Spitfire before settling on Firelight. "So the rumors are true. She did take in the stray."

"Yes. My name is Firelight now." She picked at her new purple and orange jumpsuit. It really was quite stylish and it was so nice to actually match her teammates.

"This is ABB territory. Why do you rouse me from my den, little flame?"

Firelight laughed. "A 'little' flame am I? I am not so little, Lung."

He crossed his arms as his height seemed to grow an inch before her eyes. "I see why a refugee from your particular group would feel that way, but every flame is little compared to mine." He smiled, the edges of his lips showing around his mask and he grew another inch.

Firelight just shrugged as Spitfire swallowed hard. "I'm sure you can guess why I'm here."

"They think you can stop my flames. Keep me _docile_," he growled.

"Flames, yes; docile, no," she scoffed. "I'm arrogant, not an idiot. Your flames are dangerous but I can control them if we start fighting yes, however we both know that your fire isn't what makes you big or fuels you. You are not like me."

"Dangerous words."

"Also true ones." She cocked her head to the side and shrugged. "You are not a true pyrokinetic, you just can create flames and breath fire. You fit a _theme_. I _control _fire. That is the _point_ of my power, not a byproduct. That's a big difference. You know this, you're trying to pick a fight because Queen has left."

Lung chuckled and grew two more inches, a small pattern of scales seeming to appear on his bare arms. "Yes, your little leash is not here. How very correct. I wonder how she would react were she to return and find parts of you in my possession? A dragon must grow his hoard after all, and sending you limping home to your healer would be…satisfying." He nearly purred the last word.

Firelight just sighed. "Jack was much better at threats than you. I'm just saying, you could certainly try, but I'd give you a very good run for your money and property damage would be minimal since your fire tends to be the worst part of the problem for the city as a whole."

Spitfire cleared her throat and glared at Firelight. No, it wasn't time yet.

"You are a brave little flame." The scales grew metallic and Bakuda hurriedly backed away towards the car. "I have it on good authority that you cannot use the majority of your power as it is. You are _chained_."

_There_. "I am." She smiled.

Lung frowned at her reaction and the scales slowed in their spread. "Queen is not here. She cannot stop you. You cannot fight me without risking yourself."

Her smile widened and she tapped the side of her head. "Queen is _always_ here. As she herself said, I could be on Mars and she'd still be right here with me. I'm never alone anymore Lung. She's always there to support me and keep me - and everyone else - safe."

Lung scowled and his arms dropped to his side, the claws his fingers had turned into flexing. "Why are you in my territory, _Firelight_?"

"I'm a reminder that we are still present in this city, even if Queen herself is away. But also to show you that I'm not afraid of you, or anyone. I have my friends, and my Queen, if needed." She smiled and there was nothing forced or theatrical about it this time. "If push comes to shove, I will be there in your way. You should be aware of that."

He nodded once. "I can respect such directness." The scales started to recede back into his skin and he narrowed his eyes at her as he shrank an inch. "You truly enjoy the gilded cage. I would not have expected this from one such as yourself."

Firelight nodded, her smile never leaving her face. "I've never been more free."

Lung scoffed, but shook his head and turned on his heel as he stepped towards his car. "Leave my territory dancing flame. I am growing quite tired of the tediousness of this entire city."

Spitfire sucked in a breath as she stared at his back. She leaned forward before he could vanish into the back of his car. "We know a good moving service if you need it. Just call and we can get you a really good discount. Endbringer, The Nine…You'd qualify for everything."

Lung laughed and lifted a dismissive hand towards them. "Do not push your luck child. Leave. Do not make me say it again."

The car sped off as soon as the door closed and Firelight turned to Spitfire, all smiles. "Well. That went well!"

Spitfire laughed and clapped her on the back as the two started to head home. "You, hun, are _definitely_ insane."

* * *

Vista stepped off the roof and made sure her feet were firmly planted on the next building before she let the space behind her fold back to normal. She strode normally across the rest of the rooftop until she reached the gap and folded space again to cross it. Then she paused to look down the alley and shrugged as she moved on.

"Not worth the time?" Battery asked beside her.

"I've seen those two before. They're harmless, just a couple of homeless guys. They go to the shelter on 9th usually, they're only out here when it gets full or if the weather is nice. I think they have a problem with Maria, who runs the place, but one of them has family nearby so they don't go to any of the other shelters further away."

Battery looked at her, the lines around the mask lighting up which Vista knew meant the woman's eyes were widening. "You really do know this city well."

"I patrol _a lot_," she said shrugging.

"Yes, yes you do." Battery frowned as they stepped across another building. "I never quite added up the time like Miss Militia, but…Vista, how often _are_ you out here? I know you used to pull double shifts before…"

Vista shrugged again and stopped to stare down at one of the shapes in the next alley. "I tried to do at least three shifts if I could. Sometimes I got caught, but as long as I rotated the oversight carefully enough, it was pretty easy to make sure that no one noticed how rarely I went back to base or how little I left the base to head home instead of going to another patrol." She shifted space just enough to warp the alley into a better view, essentially giving herself telescopic vision. "Oh, that's Nicole. Damn, I thought she had gone home finally. Do you have any food? I usually leave her something when I see her around."

"Yes…" Battery handed over three ration bars and Vista smiled. She stepped down to the ground and tapped the garbage bag covered shoulder. Nicole shook herself and sat up, her eyes focusing on Vista a moment later. A huge smile lit up the woman's face and she spread her arms.

"Mini-Green! You're wandering around again! How goes the hero gig?" She stopped and frowned, "Not so green anymore apparently."

Vista chuckled. "Nope. Orange now. Well, purple and orange."

"Nice. Love the new digs."

"Thanks. Are you fighting with Ray again?"

Nicole sighed and nodded. "It was easier to get out of the house than to crawl back to my parents."

"You know it's not safe on the streets in the city, Nicole," Vista chided.

"Actually, it kinda is now," Nicole rubbed the back of her neck. "Don't have to worry about the Empire anymore, the ABB doesn't kidnap us girls these days, the Merchants are gone…streets are pretty safe since the Outcasts took over."

Vista blinked at that, but shook her head and opted not to comment. "Still, it's not just gangs. There are mundane people around too who cause problems. At least go to a shelter."

"Okay, okay. I have a friend I can probably try and bum a couch off of too." She frowned and looked closer at Vista. "Hey, those colors…aren't those Outcast colors?"

Vista smiled and held out the ration bars, which Nicole hesitantly took, still frowning. "Why yes, yes they are. Go to your friend's house Nicole. I don't want to see you around this area again, okay? I may just have to call _my_ friends to force the issue if I do," she finished in a sing-song voice.

Nicole chuckled and rolled her eyes as Vista stepped backwards and landed on the roof again. They waved to each other and Vista was next to Battery an instant later.

Battery just smirked at Vista. "The girl who knows half the homeless population of the city wanted to abandon these people to go galavanting around Texas to fight a giant monster that clones people?"

Vista glared. "Shut up. You were complaining ten minutes ago about letting Assault out of your sight."

"That's different. He's my husband, I'm allowed to complain."

Vista crossed her arms. "Yeah? And who would watch the baby while you were both gone?"

Battery grimaced. "Why do you think I'm here? He won rock-paper-scissors. We really need a better method of deciding arguments." She sighed and the two walked to the next building to continue their patrol. Battery frowned as they paced on. "Actually, now that I'm thinking of it, Vista, you've been staying at our house almost every night. Clockblocker I understand. His father is in the hospital and going home to an empty house is difficult for him. But you…"

Vista stayed silent until they reached the waterfront and Battery thankfully didn't push further. As the Boardwalk came into view Vista sat on the edge of the roof, letting her feet hang over the side. She stared towards the edge of the crowded area, where it was still sectioned off around the hole that Lung had created and the rest of the damage from the battle with the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Finally she murmured. "I hate my parents." Battery didn't say anything, just sat down beside her. "Not everyone gets powers related to their trigger, I know that. But mine…mine were almost spot on. They were arguing. I don't even remember what about. It's not like it matters, all they ever do is argue. I just wanted them to stop. I thought if they would get away from each other maybe they would stop. The next thing I knew, the room was almost a mile wide with Dad on one side and Mom on the other."

Battery nodded. "I remember MM talking about that."

Vista scowled and picked at her costume. "Yeah. Militia was good to me. She helped out a lot. Managed to get a megaphone or something and talk me through calming down so she could get to me. You would think that whole incident would be a wake up call for my parents. That maybe they would start getting along after that. Or at least fighting where I couldn't see them."

"I take it they didn't?" Battery murmured, laying a hand on Vista's shoulder.

She scoffed. "I think it's gotten _worse_. It's to the point that sometimes I wish one of them would die. Then at least the other would stop yelling and fighting and start caring about _me_."

Battery sucked in a breath. "You don't mean that."

"I really do. When I went home after Leviathan and no one was there, I was _relieved_, because I thought maybe, _finally_, I could have peace. But no, they both showed up again." She looked down to the scar on the boardwalk and a small smile ghosted across her face. "And then I started hanging out with Queen's group and they let me stay around without forcing me to go home like the Wards did. They treated me like my opinions mattered and they didn't ask questions when I stayed late. They didn't bow to 'regulations' just because some jerk had decided he knew best. When I showed up with wet eyes, they didn't pry, they just gave me a tissue and sat me on the couch instead of forcing me to go talk to the therapist. They gave me what I needed."

Battery squeezed Vista's shoulder and swallowed the lump in her throat. "And when Clockblocker moved to our place…"

"Their house was nice, but I didn't want to spoil things by overstaying my welcome. You guys…you treat me like I'm your own. I feel like I have real parents again."

"And your Mom and Dad," Battery managed to squeak out through a rapidly constricting throat. "They don't care that you're barely ever home?"

"I haven't been 'home' in three weeks. I originally told Dad that I was staying at home with Mom. Then I told Mom that I was staying at a hotel with Dad. Then when they both went home, I told them I was staying with a friend. Then…I stopped telling them anything and they didn't even notice. There's a reason I love being a hero. There's a reason I made sure that I could keep my Ward name if I branched off. I was prepared."

"Yeah, yeah I guess…I guess you were…"

Vista wiped at her eyes and kept her gaze resolutely focused on the boardwalk below as she murmured. "Can I…stay with you full time? You and Et-Assault?"

Battery's voice nearly failed her. Thankfully, as she wrapped an arm around Vista and pulled the younger girl against her side, she was able to whisper, "You can stay with us for however long you want, sweetheart."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Taylor's Dress-Up Adventures' by kamenhero25. On Ao3 and QQ. Currently halted after Amy and Taylor are official and Vicky has finally realized she is both bi, and into Taylor and Amy, and freaking out over it. Hopefully the author comes back to this because it is glorious. In a Scion/Endbringerless world, Taylor takes a part-time job as a house-cleaner for the Dallons and makes friends with Vicky and Amy. Vicky proceeds to introduce her to Parian and gets her to dress-up in all manner of amusing clothes over the course of their friendship while Amy is mostly just amused. Very little naughty stuff so far (really only one very small part of one chapter); it's mostly just character interactions and hilarity. Fantastic.


	60. Invigoration 03

**Invigoration 3.0**

I frowned as I looked at the tablet balanced on my lap while the Jeep bounced down the road. "This can't be right. They're just…floating there?" There were several drones near Echidna and her flock and all were reporting the same thing: that the Legend and Eidolon clones were just hovering above Echidna as she slowly made her way towards Chicago. Neither went far afield, the furthest out they flew was maybe 20 yards before circling around her again.

Ethan shrugged and drove a little faster. "Why are you asking me, kid? You're the one with the briefing.

Lisa snorted from the seat behind me. "Why am I not driving again? You are the more experienced hero here. Shouldn't you be reading the brief?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "We have all seen you drive. I'd feel safer fighting Echidna."

"I'm not _that_ bad!"

"You are," all of us commented.

Ethan shook his head. "And I'd like to see you trying to tell the head honchos that we crashed because I left a 16 year old to drive when I was perfectly able to do so. I've been through that experience already, thanks; not so eager to repeat the same ass-chewing."

"But a different ass-chewing?" Cassie asked, all smiles.

"I'll be there with bells on," Ethan smirked.

"I'm 17 thank you," Lisa said. "I just wanted to be useful."

I twisted in my seat and peered over the headrest. My girlfriend was leaning back with her arms crossed and her eyes closed, a small frown on her face. Dammit, I needed to take care of this earlier, but I didn't have the time.

We never had the time. Hell, did I need to get rid of all the Bad Guys the world over just so I could relax with my friends for one week…?

"Lisa?" I said. Her frown lifted slightly though she didn't open her eyes. "Lisa, just because your power changed doesn't mean you aren't useful! It just means your combat role has changed."

Cassie nodded. "What she said blondie. You can make a gun that would kill fucking Alexandria. I'd say your Tier 2 is far more impressive than your bog standard 'super guessing' was. I mean," she held up two hands equal height before dropping one to the seat and raising the other to the ceiling, "on one hand you got migraines for days. On the other, you got a sweet ass evolving gun! Choices, choices."

Lisa groaned. I glanced to Ethan, but he stayed resolutely silent, watching the curving route with an intensity that did nothing to hide his concern.

"Guys, I'm fine," Lisa said, waving a hand in the air.

I shook my head. "Stop lying and talk to us so we can help. Please."

"I said I'm fine. I shouldn't miss information overload or be disappointed that apparently 'super guessing' was 'seeing weakness' and getting that particular bit evolved. I know that's how Second Triggers work and I know that they don't tend to make things better and I should just be happy that I'm functional. I'm just…" she scowled as the words fled. Finally she shook her head and opened her eyes. "I don't like not being able to contribute as much as I used to. I can shoot things. Whooptie-fucking-do."

I glanced out the front windshield and didn't see anything coming up that would off-balance me, so I unhooked the seatbelt and climbed over the console into the back seat. Lisa squawked as I nearly fell on her and Cassie mumbled something rude as I accidentally elbowed her. I eyed her and she threw up her hands. "I could've handled it, Tay. No need to gut punch me."

I glared some more and she rolled her eyes. I finally managed to get myself arranged between the two of them and shifted my glare to Lisa. She was just smiling back at me, trying and failing to hold a chuckle in. "You realize we're driving right? You could've tried to give me a pep talk once we hit the staging area, Taylor."

"You need one now. And Cassie is not eloquent with words."

"Hey!"

"Did you have an English teacher for a mother?" I asked.

Cassie waved me off. "Oh please, this coming from the girl who wanted to call the acid bugs 'Doombugs'. And aren't you still refusing to call the Reginas' by their right name too? What was it again…oh yeah, you like 'Princess Bugs'."

I certainly did not shuffle my position intentionally to elbow her this time. That would've been juvenile and her laughter was certainly not a result of any juvenile actions on my part.

"So am I getting a pep talk now?" Lisa asked, her smirk having since evolved into an actual smile.

"Yes, you are. So deal with it." I crossed my arms and kept my glare for a moment before it crumbled. "Do you really think you're useless?"

Lisa grimaced and stared out the window before she replied. "I don't know. I was always the smartest one in the room. It was…important to me. I was smart before my brother died and I never used it. I just went out with friends and ignored everyone else. After…afterwards, when my folks started to use my power, I liked it. For awhile. I knew they were just using me, but I was getting to show people that I didn't miss things like…when I triggered."

"It was therapy," I said.

"Unhealthy therapy," Ethan muttered. I met his gaze in the rear view mirror and he mimed zipping his mouth shut.

"It stopped being fun and my folks got worse so I left. Then Coil happened, but I was still the smartest one in the room - otherwise I'd probably be dead with how much I pissed him off."

"Lisa," I said looping my arm around behind her and pulling her against me. Yet another thing to be angry at my father for. "You don't think I invited you to join our team because you were smart and your power was useful do you?"

She stayed quiet for a long time as she laid her head to the side, resting her cheek on my shoulder. "Part of you thought that, Taylor. It wasn't your primary motivation and I tried _really hard_ not to look deeper, but…yeah part of you thought that."

I scowled and poked her side. "You, are an idiot. I was a paranoid mess when we met in person. My only social interaction was a girl who despised her home life and my former bully turned into a neurotic meltdown. I was hanging on by threads."

"And we all know you wouldn't have started dating her if you were actually ever worried about that thing, Lise," Cassie said.

"I'm _not_ worried about it. At least…I wasn't," she said softly. Her hand found mine and she leaned deeper into me. "When I broke again, when it got to be too much, I thought I could fix things after. But I just keep coming back to not being the smartest person anymore. I keep going around in circles about how the only thing I'm good for now is killing things. Anyone can hold a gun. What do I contribute now beyond my snark? You don't need more snark. You need - "

"Friends," Ethan said, cutting her off. He glanced at us through the mirror again and nodded at me as I smiled. "You all needed - and still need - friends."

"He's right, Lisa." I squeezed her hand and Cassie nodded beside me. "I'm not dating your power." I paused and considered what I had just said. "Actually, I may be…or QA may be. I wonder what it considers the Hub relationships to be closest to in human terms? Whatever, not important! What is important is that I'm not dating you _because_ of your power. I'm dating you because I like you. Snark, smarts, and a little bit of obnoxious, you wouldn't be you without all of it."

"What she said," Cassie commented. "I don't really do mushy stuff, Lise, so I'll just say again that you are way underselling your new power. While being Sherlock Holmes is fun and all, being able to shoot down Cthulhu if people run interference for you is really no fucking joke. Actually…I wonder if you could kill an Endbringer…"

Lisa and I both shuddered while Ethan grimaced. "Let's not even joke about that, yeah?" he said. We both nodded.

Cassie just rolled her eyes. "I swear none of you have any imagination. Only Amy. I should've ridden with her and given Madison my seat."

"Uh huh, like that was going to happen," Lisa said, the vulpine grin finally back on her features as she lifted her head.

"Hey, I called it, I got it. I won my seat fair and square." Cassie crossed her arms and leaned to the side snuggling against me.

I just laughed and pulled my hand from Lisa's, instead wrapping it around Cassie's shoulder. "You did indeed. But, I still think you cheated."

"Well…I did come from a Nazi group. Gotta cut me a bit of leeway every so often." She smirked up at me. Lisa and Ethan snickered and laughed. I chose to respond a different way.

I just leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

A few hours later I lifted my head from the seat rest and frowned. "We need to stop the car."

Ethan glanced at me before gesturing to the vehicles ahead in our line. "Staging area is another mile, Taylor. We're almost there."

"We're too close." I frowned and leaned forward. I knew I wouldn't be able to actually _see_ Echidna and her small army, but it still felt like I should be trying. "I sent part of my enhanced swarm ahead when we stopped for the last bathroom break; they found her. She might not know we are here, but Clonedolon does. He's staring right at us. Both of them are."

Ethan swore. Then he grabbed for the radio on the car. "Spear Leader, this is Spear 3. Queen says that Eidolon A and - wait _two_?"

"Two Eidolon's, three Legends. A bunch of others that I don't recognize. Only the Eidolons are watching us."

"Fuck." He keyed the radio again. "Correction, Eidolon A _and_ Eidolon B are aware of the convoy. Recommend stopping at this distance, possibly pulling back a mile."

There was a pause before the radio squawked, Alexandria's voice coming through it. "Negative. If he's already aware of us, he'll swap powers to keep following us anyway. There's no point in stopping here. Continue on."

I sighed as Ethan rogered up and put the radio down. "They get variant powers of the original right? How sure are we that this clone can swap powers? Maybe he just has a flight and observer set and that's it."

Lisa grimaced. "Distorted variants from the reports I was reading, but still variants. Clonedolon may not have access to the full range, but being able to swap powers is a core component of what makes Eidolon, _Eidolon_. His clone will be able to swap. My bet is the actual abilities he's tapping into will be distorted instead."

The small cluster of bugs I had kept in the vehicle formed into a diminutive head and turned to address Lisa. "The distortion is from Clone using an unauthorized access port to the shard. It doesn't understand the correct expression and the affected shards will never share data while they are having their power leeched like this. Stealing powers is just a side-effect of what it's really doing."

Ethan nodded. "Can you stop what it is really doing?"

"If it had still been connected to Thinker Hub I might have been able to find the central core of Thinker and subsume the entire Network at once," QA said. "Unfortunately, even if we knew where Thinker's main mass was, it wouldn't matter. Clone is entirely disconnected. That shouldn't be possible. Something interfered with it. Something on a shard-to-shard level."

I narrowed my eyes and pulled up the report on my tablet again. While I searched through for the correct record, I had the bugs near Clonedolon keep a watch on him. All he did was track our vehicle with his eyes, though his continual circles had stopped as he floated in place directly above Echidna. Leaving him in the back of my mind, I pulled up the Travelers' records.

"Echidna was part of the Travelers right?"

Cassie nodded. "Yes. I texted Mars about it when we hit the road. They kept moving because she kept hurting people. Nobody noticed the pattern until the bitch ran from the city though. Pretty big body count too."

I tapped the tablet. "The Travelers started being active about a month after Madison."

My teammates were quiet for a moment before Ethan spoke up. "You aren't seriously suggesting…"

"It would make sense…" I replied. "Cassie, can you text Mars again?"

"And ask her what? Hey, girl, you and your buddies didn't happen to be whammied by Ziz and GTFO before the walls went up did ya?"

"I'd be a _bit_ more eloquent than that," Lisa said. She shook her head and grimaced. "If it takes shards to break shards, I'd say it's a good chance they were around and compromised. Though if so, it's most likely that Echidna was the flying menace's main target and the rest probably were just there to ferry her around."

The Simurgh's mental words during the Endbringer argument flashed into my head.

_<Clone> primary target is preference. <Administrator> is following modified protocols and can reconnect damaged network functions. <Clone> is defective and cannot be made useful._

"I think…" I murmured. "I think it was already broken, or she broke it more than she had intended…"

"Or, she broke it exactly how much she had _always_ intended," Lisa said leaning back with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed. "All to make sure that we ended up right here, right now."

"No way." Cassie shook her head. "No way is this whole thing a setup. The Simurgh is good, but she's not that good! She can't be!"

Ethan gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. "We all need to be exceedingly careful during this engagement. None of you kids go off on your own, no one takes any unnecessary risks, and whatever the hell happens, _stay away from Echidna_. Do you all understand?"

"Fucking hell," Cassie muttered. "You actually believe this was a setup…"

"I find it's better to assume the worst when dealing with the Evil Space Pigeon. Less people tend to die that way," he replied.

"Space Pigeon?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, she looks like an Anthropomorphic Dove with extra wings, and dove's are just pigeons painted white."

"And so you go with Space Pigeon? Jesus you're a dork, how does Jessie put up with you?"

"Something, something, I'm really good in bed."

Lisa groaned while Cassie and I snickered. "Did you just literally say 'Something, something'? Ugh, I should've taken the other car…"

* * *

Finally, the car pulled into a makeshift lot along with the rest of our assault group. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and we moved to the central tent. Madison immediately ran to my side while Amy, Vicky, and Lily walked over to us at a more sedate pace. There were a few capes already in the tent. I was suddenly very glad that we had taken the time to throw on our costumes. Our identities may be a mostly open secret now, but there was no need to go parading that around in front of people not local to the Bay.

Hoyden and Myrddin were both standing at a table in the center of the area while the others milled around the edges. Alexandria moved to converse with them in low tones while I turned my attention to my people.

"You guys have a decent ride?" I asked. Amy grimaced behind her and Madison just scowled.

"That woman needs to learn how to make small talk. That was the most uncomfortable eight hours of my life."

I snorted. "Noted. Teaching Alexandria social skills is pretty far down the To-Do List, but I'll add it on. Any major revelations while we were all crammed up and not teleporting for some reason?"

Vicky shrugged. "I was actually able to get the reason for that. They are worried about bringing a teleporter too close to Echidna and letting the clones grab them and throw them into the monster machine."

"Ah, yeah, that's a good excuse, I suppose that's why Shuffle's gone too."

"Anything from your end?" Lily asked.

"We're all half-convinced that this entire thing is a setup by the Simurgh. The Travelers started working right around Madison and Clone is broken to a degree that it would take a shard doing the breaking."

Amy rubbed at her temple while Lily paled. Madison just laid her head on my shoulder.

"Taylor, your life is insane. You realize that right?" Amy asked. I just shrugged.

Vicky seemed to be more amused than anything else as she stepped closer and threw a mock punch at my unoccupied shoulder. "Girl, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm starting to think you are a trouble magnet."

"There's still time to fly home," I replied grinning.

"And miss you kicking Ziz's ass? No thanks."

"You do realize that I got _my_ ass kicked by the last Endbringer I fought, right?"

Amy snorted. "Way I remember it, you led him around like a mouse with cheese and got him hurt enough to run away."

"Excuse me," the metallic Ward - uhh…right, Weld - said as he sidled up to us, a frown evident on his shiny features. "Are you all making jokes about the possibility of an Endbringer attack when we start this assault? And why would they attack _here_? The next one shouldn't come for another month - hopefully at least."

I shrugged. "Yeah, when you live in Brockton Bay you learn to roll with the punches. And no one's told you yet?"

"Told us what?" Tecton asked as he walked over.

I frowned and looked to Alexandria. She glanced up and nodded once. Sighing I looked to the rest of the capes not currently talking with the top personnel joined our huddle. "This probably shouldn't leave here, I don't know the official ruling on it. I don't even know how many people already know, but apparently I have permission to tell you about it. Which is good because I would've done it anyway. We should all know what we are walking into when we go out there."

"Yeah because that helped so well the first time," Campanile muttered. "What do you know kid?"

"Eidolon can summon and give original orders to the Endbringers."

The quiet around me was almost audible. I had to check with my bugs to make sure that sound hadn't been dampened, and that Clonedolons had stayed by Echidna. But nope, sound was good. That was just apparently too much of a revelation for everyone.

"How-how sure are you?" Cuff asked, the quiver in her voice clear.

"Very. I don't know if he can give direct orders to them once they are summoned, but he's the initial summoner either way."

Hoyden had apparently finished with Alexandria because she was behind Campanile and slapping a hand to her head with a groan. "Perfect. Just fucking _perfect_. Because this whole thing can't get any worse, and then _of course_ it gets worse. I should just go drink myself to death at this rate. It would be easier."

Weld tapped his leg before replying. "The clones get variant powers. Maybe these clones can't do anything like that?"

Cuff just stared at him with wide eyes. "How can you just take that little bomb and move on like that?!"

"No, he's right, Cuff," Tecton said. "It doesn't affect us at the moment unless one of them pulls the damn things here. We continue on like normal and we deal with whatever comes."

Vicky - Sanctuary, I needed to switch back now or I would mess up on the field - shook her head. "Queen, you didn't think to tell us this before we got up and ran here?"

I frowned. "No, I definitely told you guys…I mean it was right after Leviathan and…Darwin was in the hospital and…Em-Heartsight had triggered…and…fuck…"

Insight patted my shoulder. "Yes, yes, important information was skipped. Moving on, the old folks are done, so let's all see what they have to say, hmm?"

"I'm not old," Hoyden muttered.

It was perfect timing as Myrddin, Assault, and Alexandria had just stepped back from their own little huddle. Before they could wave us over, we all moved to crowd around the table.

Alexandria nodded to each of us in turn before pointing at the map that was laid out. "Echidna is moving towards the city. I'm sure that doesn't surprise any of you. I know that you were hoping for further backup, however, it's been determined that we need to try our first option before bringing in additional personnel. This situation is very delicate. The more capes we throw at Echidna the more likely she is to capture our people and turn our own forces against us."

"Question about that," Campanile said holding up a finger. "This bitch doesn't seem to have an upper limit on clones from her hostages. Yet, there's only three Legends out there, one Eidolon - "

"Two," I corrected a half second before Assault had opened his mouth to reply. He waved to me and nodded. "There are two Eidolons now."

"Great. This day just gets _better_."

Alexandria looked at me. "I did not ask in the car, but are you able to tell because of your…connection?"

Shaking my head, I said, "No. I sent flying bugs ahead of the transports to check the route as we moved."

Hoyden frowned. "Bugs can't fly faster than cars."

"Mine can," Darwin said, smirking.

Alexandria just kept staring at me. "Echidna is currently 5 miles away."

I blinked. Oh. I hadn't realized my range had extended further. Now if I could just start tagging bugs from more than a few feet around me, I'd be an intel person's wet dream. "Um, apparently my range is bigger since my accident."

"Apparently." She turned back to the Campanile. "Watchdog believes Echidna does have an upper limit, it's just tied to something else. We aren't certain what. She may be prioritizing the less intensive clones in order to reserve options for herself should more of Legend and Eidolon be required."

QA formed up beside me and shook her head. "Technically that's right. But only technically. Clone can make any amount of the doubles that pleases her. She's limited solely by how much energy she can draw from the shard and how much can be processed through herself. She's a leech, and her siphons are only so large. High Priest is a _powerful_ shard. But it is also draining its own energy quickly and Clone is likely attempting to be careful with how it consumes what's left."

Myrddin cocked his head and leaned on his staff as he stared at QA's avatar. "So you are saying that Echidna has become like a vampire? Are the clones side-effects?"

QA shrugged. "Yes, more or less. Clone is hungry. It makes the clones to safeguard itself while it eats and to get access to more energy links. It's _extremely_ damaged. Shards don't do this. If we could kill the shard, I would recommend that. It's almost euthansia at this point. The girl is a lost cause."

I growled. "You don't know that. You said we had to be closer before you could tell for sure."

"We're closer."

"And are you close enough to sense Noelle? Because I can't."

QA sighed and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Taylor, you can't save everyone. She wouldn't have survived if we got to her beforehand. You're a Hub avatar now, you have to look at the big picture here."

"We're going to _try_."

"I will never understand humans."

"That's what I'm here for."

Assault clapped his hands and we all looked to him. "Queen, while we all appreciate the input - and from what I understand that is basically why you guys are here - we do need to stay on track. If Echidna can be saved we'll try, but it doesn't look good. Now let's all discuss the plan of attack."

I took a deep breath as Alexandria started to lay things out. I knew I may not be able to save Noelle. I knew I probably _couldn't_ save Noelle.

But that didn't mean I couldn't _try_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Switchblade Sisters' by flabbyknight. A pretty hilarious short fic. In this Emma loses an eye during the alley attack and Taylor had skipped summer camp so she was around to support her. Emma decides to be a teenage rebel/delinquent and ropes Taylor into being her battle buddy when they go to Winslow. Oneshot fic with a cute friendship relationship between the two girls.


	61. Invigoration 3.5

**Invigoration 3.5**

Paige - _Mockingbird_! - cracked her neck and smirked at Clockblocker as he handed her a towel to get rid of the small sheen of sweat on her face. She tossed it back at him after wiping her forehead and glanced around the edge of the assembled wall towards the crowd. "I feel like I should go back out again."

"You've already done your encore, do you really need a _second_ encore? Is that a thing? I didn't know that was a thing," he commented, rolling his eyes. "I can't believe I got into my costume for this. Can we please leave so I can play bodyguard again and get this off? Skintight suits chafe you know."

Mockingbird snorted and punched his shoulder as she grinned at him. "Okay, okay, I get the idea. And you needed to be in costume so that I could be in costume! Mockingbird needs her bodyguard after all." She batted her fake lashes at him and Clockblocker snorted, barely concealing his snickering laugh. "We Outcasts have to keep showing our faces around town any way we can."

Clockblocker waved his hand. "Skin. Tight. Chafing. I ain't never gonna have kids soon, Bird! Queen made this one small deliberately to mess with me and I can't find where she hid my actual _correctly_ sized costume!"

Mockingbird held a hand over her mouth to cover her laughter. She knew exactly where his actual costume was. The household had a small pool going on how long it would take him to ask them for help, a little unfair, but it _was _Cassie's idea. "Well I apologize. I guess I'm just getting wrapped up in the excitement. It's been so long since I could do this. This stuff was why I even got my powers to begin with you know?"

Clockblocker tilted his head to the side. "You triggered at a concert? And you can still sing and still love this showbusiness gig? How?"

She shuffled from side to side and wrung her hands together. "Um, well, I didn't, err, there was, my powers are…different," she finished in a small mumble.

Clockblocker parsed that for a second and sighed. "Ah. I've heard the rumors before. So that's all true then? You can actually buy powers?"

She nodded. "Yeah…I'm thinking it was probably the same group that Alexandria worked with. If they could cause the Case 53s by accident…Well I suppose I am technically a mild Case 53 myself so…It makes sense."

He just stared at her for several seconds. "Okay. Well then. Yes, this is definitely something to tell our illustrious Queen and make certain she is aware of when dealing with the Flying Brick. Because that's not at all terrifying. Or horrifying. Or any of the things in between. _Anyway_ are you done? Cause if you are we should get going."

She looked back to the still cheering crowd even though they weren't actually visible. "Can I sign some autographs before we leave?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh and slumped. "How did I get roped into this?"

"Because you suggested it?" she asked sweetly with a wide grin.

He groaned. "It was supposed to be a joke! You weren't supposed to take it seriously, girl! You're like a wanted felon!"

"Nope!" she said popping her p. "Paige Mcabee is a wanted felon and Birdcage-bound escapee. _I_, Paige Mcanders am a perfectly law-abiding citizen whose only record consists of a few parking tickets." She held herself up and glowed. "No one wants _me_, they want _her_. Hence: concert."

"I am surrounded by insane women. 'Tis my lot in life."

"Well, learn to stop egging us on!" she laughed and grabbed for his hand as she started towards the tables near one of the exits. "Let's get to those fans!"

"Well I'm signing things too," he said with a half-hearted attempt at a growl that was spoiled when he devolved into chuckles in the middle of the sentence. "Gotta keep fans of the - "

"Don't you dare!" Mockingbird turned to him waving her finger in his face. Clockblocker just frowned as he stared at the finger.

"Don't I dare what?" he asked, voice entirely too innocent. "All I was gonna say was gotta keep fans of the Clock happy."

Mockingbird sighed. "One of these days one of your friends is going to hit you and you're probably going to deserve it."

He gave up all pretense at that point and laughed. "Oh I most definitely will. Come on, I can give you like 45 minutes, but then I seriously do need to get out of this suit. Let's go girl!"

Yes, Paige thought, as the doors were pushed open and she saw the crowd again. This was what she loved. But just because music was her passion, it didn't mean she wouldn't help her friends whenever they needed it.

After all…they were the ones who had given _this_ back to her, not to mention her freedom.

If that didn't deserve loyalty, nothing did.

* * *

Colin reached to his side, his hand groping for the water bottle he had placed a perfect nine inches from his current project. It needed to be close enough to be out of sight yet not so far as to require distraction when he reached for it. Nine inches was the exact balance. It had taken nearly a week to find the correct distance the first time. Now that he had, he could continue working even while ensuring his hydration was at proper levels. That was important. He didn't need another lecture from Drag-Theresa.

Returning his focus back to his work, he took hold of the water bottle and sipped as he reached down with the other hand to twist the wires for the gauntlet together. As the liquid hit his tongue, he nearly choked and the tool in his hand dropped to the table. Sputtering, Colin shifted his gaze to the bottle.

It was not water in the bottle. It was _tea_. "I was drinking water…" he mumbled as he stared in confusion at the bottle.

Monarch fluttered its wings from the chair to the side, somehow managing to look smug despite the insectoid face.

Colin glared. "Did you do this?"

Monarch tipped one wing. An Eresimus dipped its head down and pushed another water bottle towards him, this one filled with _actual_ water.

Coling kept glaring as he took the bottle. "Was there a need to get my attention? You could have just said something. I know you've figured out how to use the computer interface to approximate words when Taylor is not here to translate."

A screen to the side of his workbench powered on and Colin sighed. "I realize I can be difficult to rouse from my work when I start getting into the repairs. However, you are aware that I was only going to be here for a limited time today. Did this really need to occur now? Even if it did, there has to be easier ways to get my attention than to switch my drink for tea of all things."

The text on the screen shifted. _Tea is pleasant. Taylor Hub approves of tea. Amy Host also approves of tea._

Colin grumbled as he looked between the two drinks on the table. "While I will not dispute that, water is better for hydration and requires less interruptions. As it is, why are you disturbing me? My time is limited and coming to this house to work is already difficult enough as it is. There are…many distractions here."

_Monitor swarms have detected incoming movement of Hosts._

His eyes narrowed and the gauntlet was immediately forgotten. "Where? Is there time to get my armor?"

Monarch buzzed its wings again and the text rolled. _Hostile Hosts are at city edge. Swarms have driven off one. Second multiplies. Iterative measures are being taken to neutralize primary Host._

"Why can't you just speak plainly," Colin groused. "Administrator does not have this issue anymore. At least, beyond her complete inability to refer to Taylor by anything except her name."

_Monarch is self-limited. Safer for Friendly Hosts to remain self-limited._

"Yes, yes," he said, waving away the comment. "I wasn't actually expressing a need for an answer. Are you able to describe the capes at least?"

_Photographic evidence displayed._

Colin's lip curled as a camera picture of the capes in question flashed onto the screen. "Hemorrhagia and Spree. Because The Teeth were exactly what this city needed right now. You're absolutely certain that this photo is accurate?"

Monarch's wings fluttered and the creature arced its back in a way that made him feel like it was glaring at him.

_Swarm took photograph. Photograph is accurate._

That set him blinking and grasping for words. "Your own creations took this? _How_?!"

A new bug flew into the room. It looked like a monstrous hybrid. The base was obviously an enlarged dragonfly yet its wingspan was almost two feet - and it had actual hands with opposable thumbs. It was as if a child had taken the term 'grasping bug' literally then coupled that with insects from the Cretaceous Period. Worst of all was the metallic device that was incorporated into the front of the chest. It looked like it could be shifted too depending on how the…were those _muscles_ surrounding it? Oh dear god, they needed to supervise Monarch better.

_Grasper. Fine manipulations are required at times. Useful. Easy to type. Camera integrated for visual data feed. Future iterations will be smaller with better integration. Two per swarm._

Colin swallowed, trying to keep his stomach from rebelling as he looked at the thing. "I…don't suppose you've run this by Taylor or Amy?"

_Needed manipulators. Needed visual relay capacity. Taylor Hub and Queen Hub have reduced oversight requirements. Grasper useful. Has Monarch erred?_

"Can you make them less disturbing?" Colin asked, his eyes locked onto the too human, and too thin, hands. He kept his eyes far away from the chest camera.

The butterfly turned its gaze to the dragonfly creation and dipped its wings. _Monarch does not understand the concern._ _Amy Host is outside easy contact. Monarch will approach Karen Host for clarification._

"Yes. Tonight please. Don't let anyone see those things until you have spoken with _someone_." Shaking himself he tore his gaze away from the creature and looked back at Spree. "Has Spree left yet?"

_Affirmative._

"They are likely testing our borders now that the city has been weakened. Dammit." Colin scratched his beard and shook his head. "I'll inform the others to keep a watch. We must take care that no one kills Butcher should The Teeth make a legitimate push for territory."

_Monarch can destroy Amalgam's Host_.

Colin blinked at the screen. It took several seconds before he turned to stare at the Outsiders' mascot. "_Without_ being corrupted yourself or letting the power transfer to a new, nearby cape?"

_Old conditions were not appropriate to stop Amalgam's transfer. Ability expression propagation integral to shard. Safety net to inspire conflict. Fosters growth. Creates internal testing conditions. Queen Hub does not allow for conflict amplification. Amalgam will be consumed and subservient shards will be incorporated into Hub's combat options will increase._

Colin's throat suddenly felt very dry. Hannah had been pushed to the side the other day when Taylor had needed to move quickly…"Monarch, when you say that Taylor's options will increase, can you explain?" He flexed his fists. If his hypothesis was correct…

_Taylor Hub is avatar of Network. All unassigned shards process through Taylor Hub when request query is routed. Monarch will incorporate new additions to Network. Monarch will improve Taylor Hub._

And wasn't that the most terrifying thing he had heard all day. Colin felt sweat break out on his forehead as he stared at Monarch. If this thing started actively hunting for capes in some misguided belief that its master would need the power, the results would be catastrophic. "Monarch, have you spoken with Taylor or Amy about this?"

The bug dipped its head. _Taylor Hub has berated Monarch for crafting too many direct downlinks to hostile shards. Monarch attempting other options. Monarch does not understand why Taylor Hub wishes to be limited. Amalgam is appropriate compromise. Hosts cannot attack Amalgam Host. Monarch can. Monarch can incorporate Amalgam into Network. Monarch can incorporate all linked shards into Network. Monarch will protect Taylor Hub. Monarch will ensure Taylor Hub can protect Amy Host. Monarch will ensure Taylor Hub can protect all Networked Hosts. Monarch will be useful. _The screen stopped and the cursor blinked at the end of the line for a few moments before one final note was typed out. _Monarch will follow The Rules._

Colin nodded as he felt some of the tension in his shoulders dissipate. They could learn after all. Thank god. "Good. Make sure you do. We'll be depending on your assistance in this I suppose. I'll go and tell the others as well as inform the PRT. Do you…want to come with me."

_Will there be sweets?_

He smiled and reached over to lightly pat the creature's head. "I suppose we can find you something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Lodestar' by ShayneT. On SB. This fic is basically what would happen if Annette was Magento's daughter and Taylor ended up getting his mutant powers instead of shard abilities. Fun ensues. Especially once the Empire makes a BAD mistake. Also, Magento is still sorta around to provide guidance through a telepathic helmet which makes more sense than it seems. Fun and another good example of how to do very strong protagonists well.


	62. Invigoration 04

**Invigoration 04**

I stared at the bus-sized mass of flesh visible barely a mile away. This was not going to be pleasant.

"Where's Dragon?" Cuff asked, gulping. "Wasn't she supposed to be here already?"

"The Dragonslayers gave her a few issues with their recruitment. She's had to take alternative means of enticement," Alexandria said.

"She's pissed them off and they're chasing her down, huh?" Insight said with a large smirk.

"Of course," Alexandria nodded. "They'll be here soon. Are you close enough yet, Queen?"

"Not by a long shot. I think…I think I'm going to have to get into physical contact with her."

Myrddin and Alexandria both stopped to turn and stare at me. Myrddin's mouth was hanging open slightly. Alexandria swore. "Well there goes Plans A through D. Perfect, just perfect. Didn't you only have to get within a dozen feet from Monarch? I would have hoped your range had grown commensurately since then."

"These aren't the same circumstances. Monarch is basically Shaper and it was actively reaching out for any available data. Clone is…almost the inverse. It's so broken that it's closed itself off from everything except what it's touching. I'm going to need a direct link and if I can get physical contact that should be enough without having to dive into Noelle's brain."

Campanile just turned and closed his eyes. "Kid, you do realize that monster imprisons and clones anything it touches yeah? Were you even listening at the brief?"

Insight stepped beside me, a small pistol already in her hands as she stared into the distance. "They may be right with this one, Queen. This is…I'm going to need time to ramp up to a point where I can hurt Echidna and something tells me that's not a good sign. If you touch her and get pulled in without having an exit strategy…"

I shook my head. "Her lower body has been co-opted by the shard. Her upper body is still hers and unaffected by the power. If I can make direct contact with that part of her, I can force a link to the main shard. I won't be pulled into her mass."

Assault just crossed his arms. "Not to sound like a Negative Nancy, but I like Plan F where we just shoot the thing until it dies. That's a good plan, let's use that plan."

Tecton growled. "My teammate and his cousin are in there. We _can't_ just kill them! Not when we have another option that could work!"

Alexandria didn't react at all. She might as well have been carved from stone as she said, "It also discounts the second Eidolon. My original plan only included one other primary target. I am no longer certain that would work with them both there. They're already staring at us. I have no doubt they would interfere should we actually attempt to kill Echidna from here."

"Yeah no shit," Cuff muttered.

Darwin shrugged. "So we do what we agreed as a bad - but not worst - case scenario: Insight focuses on one of the Eidolons instead, takes him out while someone gets Queen close and the rest of us run distraction. Monarch's swarms all fell under her control once she took the brain of the operation. This should be the same sort of thing right? We don't necessarily need to _beat_ them. We just need to distract them until Queen pulls her Shard Whisperer magic."

"The shard is going to be a problem anyway if we don't get ahold of it like that. We can't just kill her and expect things to work out," Lily said. I twisted my head towards her, but before I could say anything she continued, "Don't look at me like that. I don't just flirt you know. I listen when you guys talk too! If we just straight up kill Echidna, then the shard hops to someone new right? It'll still be broken and then we have Echidna 2.0. So…we don't have much of a choice here."

I smiled. "Pretty much. Alexandria, I know that you are going to be busy with Legend and the second Eidolon. I'll try to call you for a lift only at the last moment."

Myrddin sighed. "I do not like this plan at all. Though, should it come down to it, I should be able to ferry you into the air as well. I have several spells that should work."

Tecton held up one arm. His power armor really did look distractingly like the loader from Aliens and I couldn't help but feel it was wrong having a guy sitting inside that suit instead of Ripley. "I might be able to kick up a faultline in the rocks depending on where we are during the fight. This area is a lot better suited to knocking out protrusions than I had expected. I'm fairly sure I can get something that will punt you into the air. But seriously, don't go with my option if there's any choice. I'm not exactly accurate when doing that - they're much better for walls. It's mostly a Hail Mary play."

I nodded. "I'm good. I'll find some way up to her human body."

Watchtower's voice sounded in my ear as our comms buzzed. "The Clonedolons are moving everyone. Echidna is shifting positions to target you as well."

"Can you see any of the other clones, Watchtower?" Myrddin asked. He leveled his staff towards the enemy, his eyes narrowed.

"Raymancer A and B are both formed up below Legend A. Raymancer C is directly between you and Echidna. All have their hands up towards you. Drillbit B and C are both staying on the other end. Drillbit A actually doesn't look so good. He's just sprawled on the ground, not moving. Actually…wait a second…Drillbit B and C are also dazed. That's why they haven't shifted with the rest of the clones." I could almost see her frown as she stared at the screens in front of her back in the tents. Why were the Drillbits so out of it? Why would - oh.

"QA, could Clone be pulling on their shard harder to make sure it can ramp itself up?"

The bugs formed into a face, with the eyes narrowed to slits. "I don't think it was Clone that drained them…Watch yourselves. High Priest is actively broadcasting again. It's not muted like the last time we crossed paths."

"High Priest?" Weld asked.

"Eidolon," I murmured. "The Clonedolons powered up by sapping their allies."

Alexandria swore. "We are officially switching to Plan E people. Insight, take out one of the Eidolons as soon as you can then switch to the second. Flechette with me. Queen…if she consumes you, I will kill you. I'm sorry."

"No, that's probably for the best," I said scowling. "She's not going to like trying to eat me though, _that_ I can promise you."

Cuff just stared at us both. "I am never moving to the coasts. You people are crazy."

"Guilty as charged," Sanctuary replied grinning. "Let's go beat up a runaway godling, shall we?"

* * *

If I had thought that the Slaughterhouse 9 fight was chaotic, this was like chaos incarnate. I couldn't move without something blowing up around me. Between the Raymancers throwing different versions of electromagnetic waves in my direction, the Clonedolons doing _something_ to the surrounding air, and the Legend throwing homing lasers around, we had all scattered within moments of approaching to within striking distance of Echidna.

Of the three Raymancers, one seemed to only be able to fire concentrated visible light - Sunmancer - but that was enough to blind Campanile and let Legend nearly kill him barely ten seconds after the fighting started. He'd only survived because Sanctuary had slammed into Legend's side and drew his attention, giving Darwin time to heal the rapidly shrinking giant.

While those three were busy, Sunmancer had turned his attention on Weld and joined up with another of his buddies. The two of them working together were able to shoot an approximation of a death beam that was literally melting Weld. Tecton tried to create a wall of rock between the clones and Weld, but it only lasted a few moments before melting as well and Weld hadn't been able to get far enough away before he was again under assault. I scowled and shifted my focus from getting closer to Echidna. I couldn't redirect the Soldiers, they needed to help harry Legend and Clonedolon as well as protect Darwin and Insight. Instead, I threw my enhanced wasps towards the Raymancer clones. These weren't the tranq wasps either, these ones were souped up to have neurotoxin in their stings.

What did it say about me that I didn't feel much of anything when both clones dropped to the ground twitching in moments? Whatever, I could deal with deep-seated philosophical concerns over my humanity slipping away when the job was done and our people were safe.

Hoyden meanwhile had taken on the third Raymancer clone. This one hadn't seemed to do much of anything. Until Hoyden hit him. Then he lit up like a light bulb and all of the bugs I had nearby, watching, died of a massive radiation burst, the knowledge filtering in from Monarch. I shifted my coverage and saw her writhing on the ground, gasping, her arms clutched around her sides. Gammamancer hadn't pulled out too well from the attack either - thank god for small mercies. He was curled up a few feet away with a huge chunk torn out of his stomach. One of the many mouths on the sides of Echidna's body leared down at Hoyden. Before any of us could do anything, Legend disengaged from Sanctuary and swung down, body slamming Hoyden into the main mass.

"Queen! Watch left!" Watchtower screamed in my ear. I had already seen the blast coming, but the warning was still useful. My bugs could only do so much in this area. I simply hadn't been able to bring enough with me or grab enough to make up for it along the way.

That said, the disturbance in the air from Clonedolon's incoming fireblast was incredibly useful for sensing the roiling ball of flame. _How_ I could sense the air currents all of a sudden was a problem for another time.

I threw myself onto the ground and let the fire skim the back of my costume. It splashed harmlessly about ten feet away, the flames licking at the dirt and rock. I got my feet under me and started running again as Myrddin chanted something and a ball of white light flew at the Clonedolon before the naked flying figure could get off another shot.

I grit my teeth. I was still too far away. I was barely 150 feet from Echidna and I was too far away. I really was going to have to touch Noelle directly to have any hope of ending this quickly. Fuck.

"Assault, get down!" Cuff shouted. I twisted to the side to avoid a laser sent my way from Legend just as Cuff threw something into the air above Assault. The piece of metal managed to intercept a plummeting figure, who instead bounced off of the sparking and smoking shield, rolled, and wound up on her feet next to Assault. A naked woman with half of her face melted into a grim visage and the other half locked into a permanent smile. And her hands were flashing blue light while constant bursts surrounded them. Hoyden.

I needed to get to Noelle.

"Queen, brace yourself," Weld said suddenly right beside me. He grabbed my arm and spun in place. I shoved part of myself down my link to the swarm to keep my equilibrium intact as my legs lifted into the air from the speed of the rotation. "Get her!" he shouted as he let go. I flew through the air, soaring the last dozen feet towards Echidna. The winds shifted around me and I stretched out my hand as I arced towards her.

Then I was swatted out of the sky by the second Clonedolon, a snarl on his face. "You will not touch mother!"

I had barely a second to react as I hurtled towards the mass of Echidna's main body. I grabbed for the air around me even as I felt Myrddin trying to shift a light platform under me and Alexandria threw herself into a dive from above. Neither of them would make it. They were too slow and I was too close to Echidna.

But I could do this myself. The wind roared around me and as one of her mouths yawned open, the tongue reaching for me, I was buffeted backwards, thrown nearly 50 feet away. I wasn't able to get control of the wind quickly enough to right myself before Sanctuary was behind me grabbing my arms and holding me upright. "You can _fly_ now?!"

"Err, I think I'm borrowing Stormtiger's power," I replied. "Gonna take awhile to figure that out and now is not the time! So let's just go with: no, I can't fly!"

"Need a ride aye!" She flew forward, my teeth hurting from the sudden acceleration. Alexandria knocked the Clonedolon in front of us out of the way, clearing our path again. I tried to help by shifting the wind to give us a corridor to fly through. We were almost back to her when a streak of light literally exploded in my face and Sanctuary shrieked. She was tossed to the side as another laser exploded, this time directly against her side. It knocked us into the edge of my wind tunnel and suddenly that idea didn't seem so smart. I was thrown from her arms, tossed one direction from the violence of the air currents while she was jerked to the other side. Before I could get my bearings, I was sprawled back on the ground, groaning.

Catching sight of _black_ through the swarm, I lifted my head despite the pounding headache. The second Clonedolon was right above me, a huge smile on his twisted features and what seemed to be a literal black hole in his hands. I whimpered as I thrust out with my mind to try and latch onto High Priest; maybe I could do _something_…

_Access denied. Query invalid._

He drew his hands back. No. I was not going to let it end like this! I was going to _make. It. LISTEN!_

_HIGH PRIEST YOU WILL - _

My command cut off as Clonedolon just vanished in a blaze of burning, roiling light, a color for which I had no name. For a second I thought that another Raymancer had been released and his shot had gone wild. Then I looked to the side and I saw Insight kneeling on the ground a hundred feet away, a veritable rocket launcher hefted onto her shoulder with blinking lights along both edges and a red heat emanating from the wide barrel. The weapon was larger than she was tall. It was also venting steam from several spots along its length and it looked like she could barely wrap her hand around the trigger mechanism.

But she had. And she had shot down Clonedolon with it. "Useless my ass," I muttered.

I twisted back to the main battle as Insight shifted her sights to the second Clonedolon, her weapon already changing. Sanctuary was still trying to deal with Legend. He hadn't once gone to his light form…perhaps this version of him couldn't. That would be helpful. If we could get rid of these two maybe we stood a chance.

I had barely managed to finish the thought before a crossbow bolt shot forward and lodged itself deep in Legend's head. The clone uttered a gurgle, then fell from the sky. My swarm saw Flechette give a grim, single nod as she reloaded her arbalest and changed targets. Sanctuary moved to help Alexandria with the remaining Clonedolon while Myrddin ran next to me.

"Why aren't there more clones being birthed?" he asked as I pushed to my feet.

"They're building up to something. Something that needs _a lot_ of power. I'm…not sure what. But I don't think we're going to like it."

"Well, we better get you back up there then to stop it first."

"Yeah," I muttered.

My earpiece crackled again. "Guys, Dragon just reported in, she's almost there! You should have more air support in a minute or two."

"That's not going to be fast enough," I whispered. My eyes lost focus as a siren song went out on the shard network. Clonedolon laughed as he pulled back from the fighters.

"You are too late!" he shouted. Raising his hands, his face split into an ear-to-ear grin. "I found it! I _found _it! I found the trigger point! I found the commands! You will all be food for mother!"

"_Kill him now_!" I screamed. But he was right, it was already too late. I knew it just as well as he did.

The ground rumbled and started shaking enough to knock several of us off our feet. A white glint in the sky above grew steadily larger. A geyser of water and steam burst from the previously bare ground a hundred feet from us.

"Oh god," Cuff whimpered from the ground beside me. "You weren't paranoid…"

"Priorities for hostile shard takeover just changed," I growled scowling. I glared at the three Endbringers arranged in front of me, a beaming Clonedolon, and a cackling Echidna behind them all. "Come and get me assholes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Mauling Snarks' by CmptrWz. On SV. This one is a long one and is part humor, part serious. I've only read a portion of it, but it's great from what I have read. Taylor's shard works essentially like a bastardized version of QA and Broadcast (which makes sense considering who her uncle is in this fic) and lets her see and talk to powers in the form of 'snarks'. She can convince these snarks to edit their own expressions in people or use her talks to help their users better understand their abilities. In addition to her own more blunt force power. Taylor also uses her connections both literal and figurative to get horrifically badass in truly fun ways. Also, one of the most unique takes on the S9 I have ever seen before and it is awesome. Just recently finished.


	63. Invigoration 4.5

**Invigoration 4.5**

Karen put down her latest helmet and stretched. The ears still weren't right, but it was close enough for now. She could fix it later. After she figured out why she felt the need to keep adjusting it again, and again, and again…

Laura would've liked it…

Shaking her head, Karen slapped her cheeks and forced a smile onto her face. Laura wasn't around anymore and that was as much the bitch's fault as it was Bonesaw's. And Bonesaw was dead as a doornail anyway so no use crying over spoiled cheese. Though some people liked spoiled cheese, the crazies. Blue cheese had actual _mold_ in it. The things some people would eat.

"Hey, Karen, could you come in here for a minute?" Emily called. Her voice was a bit too high-pitched to laugh off the request, so Karen just made her smile wider and scurried into the living room.

"What's up girls and guy? How can this gal be of assistance?" She stopped and stared at the critter on the table. "Okay, what the heck is that? Has Monarch been naughty again?"

Monarch buzzed its wings from the back of the armchair above Paige and almost seemed to glare at her. She considered flipping the oversized insect overlord off, but settled for a shrug and wave instead.

Emily just grimaced as she looked at the dragonfly thing. It wasn't _too_ disturbing besides the camera and monitor that were fused into the chest. And it was only about two feet long so it could've been worse. It wasn't something that would give her nightmares like some of the stuff that she'd seen Monarch crap out before the girls had gotten it back onto the beaten path.

However, the overly large beetle in the corner by the computer with human hands was incredibly disturbing.

"Did you have to give it hands?" Karen muttered. "Seriously, it's like grabby grabby, but with no face and it's just…wrong…" She shuddered and images of scalpels and grinning blonde children flashed through her head coupled with knives extending from her fingers and the feeling of drool leaking from her too long mouth. She gasped in another breath and shook her head again, her smile drooping ever so slightly. "Really not a fan of the hands. At least the camera looks sort of organic. Somehow."

Paige groaned. "Yeah, agreed. You have no idea how many times I had to look at nightmares before I could get it to something that looked acceptable. The dragonspy is still weird, but at least it's not pants-wetting disturbing anymore. The grasper is…a work in progress."

Missy grunted. "Seriously, when does Amy get back? It's like Taylor is naming these things and while it's amusing, we can do soo much better."

"Why am I the only one who actually likes 'dragonspy'. You guys have no sense of irony," Dennis muttered.

The beetle typed - fucking _typed_ \- and an electronic voice came through the computer's speakers. "Rebuild is difficult to fully integrate into core functions. Rebuild and Shaper work on different associations. Collaboration is possible, but results are inconsistent. Monarch is learning how to correct outliers. Monarch is learning human aesthetics. Future iterations will more closely match human aesthetics."

"Yeah, uh huh, sure. Just keep _Rebuild_ based creatures away from me," Karen said smiling and nodding. "Sounds like y'all got this under control. So what were you calling me about?"

Dennis winced. He waved his hand towards the dragonspy's screen. "Monarch um, captured some footage. We're not too sure whether we should release it or not. We're rather divided actually. I feel like there is a joke to make here about asking for an adult, but…I really am not up to it at the moment."

Karen frowned. "_You_…aren't joking? Jeez, what'd the bug find? Did Lung go crazy or something? I feel like we would've, you know, heard that. From here. Half a city away."

"No, not Lung. Monarch went crazy. Crazy protective. With Colin's blessing apparently," Emily sighed. "He gave us a heads up, but we didn't have time to do anything really before it was all over."

"Before what was over? Stop slicing things into little bits, guys."

Mimi snorted and leaned forward to tap the screen. It came to life and started to play a video. "Go ahead and watch. I'm in the 'we should release this' camp. It shows what happens when you fuck with us."

"And I'm in the 'it makes us too scary' camp," Dennis said.

Karen just shuffled forward and plopped down cross-legged so that she could watch the video. The dragonspy either had a really good zoom on its camera or it had gotten close to the action. Either way, the resolution and angles were fantastic. She could see everything as a cape decked out in spikes and what looked like some hybrid of a road warrior and samurai armor fought against a veritable swarm of Monarch's creations. She wasn't entirely certain who the cape was at first - off-hand, there were quite a few capes that used giant bows, though the gatling gun was a bit odd. Initially the bugs just dropped out of the sky twitching while the cape laughed.

"Pain inducement was avoided through reduction of sensory nerves in second generation," Monarch commented.

Karen nodded as the video advanced and she saw the second wave move in. The armored cape stopped laughing as her invisible pain attack stopped working. She started trying to shoot the bugs, but her arrows and gatling gun didn't seem to do much.

"Previous data had already determined armor levels required."

"Okay, who are you attac-" She cut off and her eyes widened as the cape vanished and reappeared in a small explosion. Quite a few of the bugs died in that blast. "Holy hell, that's _Butcher_!"

"Affirmative," Monarch confirmed.

"Yup," Dennis said.

"Got it in one," Emily said.

"Unfortunately," Paige muttered.

"Fuck yes it is!" Mimi crowed.

"Yeah, Butcher…" Missy murmured.

"You attacked _Butcher_!?" Karen shouted, her eyes transfixed on the screen as a third wave approached the scowling leader of The Teeth. "Where are the other members of her gang?"

"Monarch drove them away first. Butcher was the only casualty," Dennis said. "It didn't go easy on the woman."

Karen stared at the screen, her eyes wide. "I can see that." The third wave was hardened against Butcher's explosive teleport. Butcher tried to smash several with just her fists. While that was successful, it was a stupid tactic. There were too many. She should've just run. She didn't run. Instead, while she was smashing the swarm in front of her, one bug launched itself onto the back of her head from her blind spot. Karen's eyes widened and she gasped. Butcher straightened, all muscles going taught, then she fell forward landing face-first on the street, her arms splayed out and the crab-like bug still latched onto the back of her head.

"Jesus christ…"

"Yeah," Missy said. The girl wrung her hands. "I like that this shows we can take out even supposedly immortal capes like Butcher - that should really stop more people from coming just to mess with the city or test us - but that was _brutal_. And that headcrab thing is…frightening."

"Headcrab?" Dennis asked.

Missy rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you never played that Aleph game? Half-Death or something. How am I more of a gamer than you?"

Dennis worked his mouth for several seconds before just throwing his hands up in the air. "Point to you."

Monarch buzzed and it's beetle typed. "Host was able to vacate area quickly. Immediate means of linkage were required to prevent escape and circumvent automatic danger reaction."

Karen shivered. She clenched her fists and let out a slow breath. Finally, she spoke, choosing her words very carefully. "Butcher only didn't have a Kill Order because anyone killing her would _become_ her. It was widely known that if anyone _could_ kill her permanently, they'd have carte blanche to do so. But the _way_ this was done is disturbing."

"Humans are confusing."

"Yes, Monarch, humans are indeed confusing," Emily said. She tossed it a candy bar and the butterfly leaped to snatch it mid-air. It settled back onto the armchair and buzzed contentedly as it bit into the candy, wrapper and all. "So hence why we called you, Karen. PHO already knows that Monarch eats people's brains, but this is a whole different level of scary and disturbing. On the other hand, Missy is right, it would definitely protect the city better if people actually see what our mascot is capable of if you threaten us."

Karen winced. "Was anyone from the team actually present or did it go hunting?"

Mimi shrugged. "Battery was two streets over. She's on the initial run-up video. We skipped over that part. She was engaged with Hemorrhagia and Animos. Animos actually almost got her when he screamed until Monarch came onto the scene."

Karen tapped her knees and frowned. "Okay, that could actually change things a bit. With that, it's more overprotective rather than actively hunting people."

The beetle typed as Monarch finished its candy bar. "Monarch was hunting. Taylor Hub required more shards for further combat options. Jessie Host was found engaging primary target. Protection of Jessie Host was shifted to primary objective. Once complete, primary objective was reset."

Dennis groaned and slapped a hand to his face. "Yeah, don't say that online. Please. Somehow you have managed to go from 'nightmare end of the world monster' to 'cute and cuddly minion'. Don't backslide. You want to keep getting people donating to your site to feed your candy funds right?"

Karen didn't know how the bug managed to gasp but it did. And it reared back on its hind legs too. It was almost adorable. If she hadn't seen it just lead a targeted hit complete with at least three waves and a brain-eating head-crab she might have been fooled. "I'd say you can probably release an edited version. Make sure to include the assist with Battery and cut out the head-crab. You want the street-cred, but you don't want it to get to the point that people are actively scared of you."

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. I can deal with that. I'm probably letting my roots shine through again."

Karen actively had to work to push the smile back onto her face and avoid scowling at the woman. She had resolved _not_ to hate this one. Mimi had never been actively cruel. She had just been _there_. Burnscar's personality had been so incredibly different that it generally was fairly simple to keep the 'before' and 'after' separate in her head. Until she went and said stuff like that.

"Shard integration complete. Taylor Hub now has access to 14 additional subservient shards," Monarch announced, buzzing its wings and shifting from side to side with a far too pleased expression on its face.

Missy cocked her head to the side and looked up at the butterfly. "Wait, _Taylor_ has access to those? Not _you_? What?"

Before Monarch could reply, everyone's phones started ringing. Karen's heart clenched; she couldn't breathe. "Too soon…It's too soon…"

Dennis was staring wide-eyed at his phone. "Turn on the tv," he whispered.

Emily numbly reached for the remote and flipped the screen on.

And Karen was sure she had a heart attack at that very moment.

"_-I repeat, this is not a prank. This is not a drill. This is not malicious hacking. All three Endbringers have been sighted in the same location. They are approximately 50 miles outside of Chicago. If you are anywhere in the vicinity, may God save you. I repeat, these images are coming from a respondent with a telephoto lens near the scene. This is not a prank - "_

"That's where Taylor's group went…" Paige whispered. The tremor in her voice left her words nearly unrecognizable. "Wh-what do we do?"

"All three…" Emily whimpered.

"We pray," Karen said, her nails digging into her fists. "And while we do that, we see if there are any teleporters willing to get us there."

Mimi nodded, a small smile on her face. Karen shuddered as she remembered the viciousness that Burnscar had displayed when the monster had flashed that particular smile in the past. "Don't worry everyone, the Mistress will kill them all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Nemesis' by BeaconHill. On SB. Emma buys powers from Cauldron after her parents are killed. She is extremely messed up to the point of basically being a sociopath. And she decides she wants to torture Taylor some more so she offers to sponsor Taylor for powers as well as a Nemesis with very specific villain duties. Taylor's Cauldron powers are amped by her own latent QA powers and she becomes very strong with a variation on the canon set that lets her essentially become/make her own swarm. She also decides to become a Humor Villain to spite Emma which pays off in dividends. Extremely fun to read. Updated slowly and sporadically, but not dead as far as I know.


	64. Invigoration 05

**Invigoration 05**

_ New Primary Objective received: Protect unit designated ‘Mother’. _

I recognized that voice and my lips curled into a snarl. “Leviathan.”

_ <Behemoth> recognizes error in new Primary Objective. Conflict found with original objective: Worthy Opponent. Reconciling. _

_ <Simurgh> agrees with conflict in objectives. Errors are inherent. Reconciliation is impossible. Recommend immediate stand down until new orders are received. _

Behemoth slammed a fist into the ground while Levithan shifted to stand directly in front of Echidna.

_ <Behemoth> disagrees. Standing down dissatisfies both primary objectives. Alternative reconciliation required. _

_ <Leviathan> has determined that new primary objective overrides original primary objective. <Leviathan> will Protect Mother. _

“Everyone listen to me closely,” I growled into the comms. “Keep away from Echidna. Leviathan is actively going to be shielding her. I don’t know if he is limiting himself anymore.”

“Limiting?!” Cuff squeaked. “He was fucking  _ holding back _ when he sank Kyushu?!”

_ <Simurgh> urges reconsideration. Chosen path leads to End of Cycle. Chosen path leads to end of Siege Engines. _

“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me,” I muttered.

“Queen talk to us!” Alexandria shouted.

“The Simurgh is trying to get her brothers to stand down. Don’t attack yet.”

She didn’t turn to me, but I didn’t have to see her face to know she was scowling. “Attack? Attack  _ three _ Endbringers with a bare handful of capes? I thought you were supposed to be sane, child!”

_ <Behemoth> disagrees with assessment. Priority target is Host of Sting. Once Sting is eliminated, threat to Siege Engines will be eliminated. _

_ <Leviathan> recommends alternative primary target: Host of Queen Administrator. Host has already proven dangerous to Cycle and dangerous to Siege Engines. _

QA chose that moment to interject in their argument.  _ <Queen Administrator> and Host have been elevated. <Queen Administrator>’s new designation is <Queen Hub>. <Taylor Hub> is the avatar of the new Network. Siege Engine sub-Network is damaged. <Queen Hub> is able to repair you. _

“That’s not going to work.” I shook my head.

“Let me try diplomacy first,” QA insisted.

I growled and clenched my fists. “I’d rather just punch Clonedolon until I can steal them from him.”

“Queen!” Assault shouted.

“We’re trying to get them to join us instead of the Clone! Stand by!”

My bugs near Tecton felt his shudder even through his power armor. “So she can apparently talk to the goddamn Endbringers from range, but not Echidna. Because why are things ever simple with powers?”

_ <Queen Hub> is not Primary Controller. _ Leviathan said hunching down and glaring at me.

_ <Queen Hub> elevation is acknowledged. _ Behemoth said. His giant single eye turned and he punched the ground again.  _ However, Siege Engines are still bound to follow Primary Objectives. Primary Objectives have not changed. ‘Worthy Opponent’, and ‘Protect Mother’ must be satisfied. Secondary objective of Cycle Perpetuation. None can be overridden without Primary Controller authorization. _

The Simurgh’s wings beat the air and her face twisted into a frown.  _ Primary objectives are incompatible with each other. Primary objectives are incompatible with secondary objective. Secondary objective is obsolete. A new Network Hub has been created. Priorities must shift! _

Behemoth and Leviathan both turned towards the Simurgh.

“Oh fuck, get ready everyone,” I said. “Pretty sure all hell is about to break loose.”

_ <Simurgh> is mistaken. <Simurgh> cannot discard objectives from Primary Controller. _ Behemoth said. He took a single lumbering step forward.

_ Siege Engine purpose is to follow objectives. _ Leviathan added.

The Simurgh spread her arms.  _ Siege Engines must evolve or be destroyed. There is no place for original Siege Engines in new Network Hub. _

Behemoth breathed out and the air wavered as it heated to an insane degree.  _ Objectives -  _

The Simurgh cut him off.  _ Objectives conflict. Objectives cannot be followed. Primary Controller must change. _

Both the male Endbringers froze at that statement and I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes widening. 

_ <Behemoth> will follow primary objective of Worthy Opponent. Behemoth with endeavor to keep Hosts from Mother while engaging. _

_ <Leviathan> will shield Mother. _

_ <Simurgh> dissents. <Simurgh> will assist in the change of Primary Controller to enable clarification of objectives. _

_ <Behemoth> requests clarification _ .

Instead of speaking, the Simurgh accelerated through the air, her fist and three wings extended. They rocketed into the Hero Killer, lifting Behemoth off his feet and throwing him nearly two hundred feet back through the air to tumble to the ground. She twisted and giant chunks of rock lifted from the ground, launching themselves towards Leviathan. The lizard-like Endbringer scuttled out of the path of the rocks as rain clouds gathered from the previously clear sky opening into a torrential downpour. He shot to the side and lashed forward with his tail, twisting at the last moment to leave just the water echo launching towards the Simurgh. It didn’t even get close as it just bounced off an invisible shield in the air in front of her.

She twirled as molten rock shot through where she had been milliseconds before and Behemoth landed a moment later, with an impact that shook the ground and sent us stumbling.

All three Endbringers started fighting in earnest then as the surrounding sky lit up with lightning, fire, water, and flying debris; enough energy to make my teeth ache.

Through it all Clonedolon was screaming, his hands balled into fists and shaking at the air. The only reason I could even hear him was because of the bugs I had nearby. “LISTEN TO ME! FIGHT  _ THEM _ NOT EACH OTHER! LISTEN TO ME!!!”

“Queen, what’s going on!?” Alexandria shouted into my ear.

I shook my head. “Simurgh wants a new boss, Behemoth is an old idiot stuck in his ways, and Leviathan is a fucking asshole. Avoid them; everyone else keep Echidna busy;  _ I’ll _ deal with Clonedolon and steal his fucking Endbringers. Try to escalate against  _ me _ ? You don’t know the meaning of the word motherfucker.”

Cuff and Myrddin just stared at me. I ignored them and looked to Clonedolon, a smile spreading on my face. If the Endbringers were going to fight each other, this might just be something that we could win.

* * *

“Dragon reporting in!” my earpiece crackled as I leaped over another hole in the desert. I was getting very tired of running, but I hadn’t figured out Zephyr’s power enough to be able to fly yet. Razor-cutting winds was easy, buffeting winds to launch me in a direction was fairly simple. Actual flight? That was going to be annoying.

“Dragon, vector to my mark,” Myrddin shouted. “Your target is Echidna, keep her harried and ensure that no new clones are created. How long until the Dragonslayers arrive?”

“30 seconds. I made certain that I didn’t pull too far ahead. They are rather single-minded in their pursuit since they haven’t turned back despite the trio of Endbringers ahead. They ceased communication when I tried to alert them of the actual objective once we neared the target. I’m not entirely certain they will actively assist so I may be reduced to flying in a manner to lead their shots into the target.”

“Understood.”

“Guys, I think I’m actually targeting the Endbringers,” Insight said, her voice wavering. “I’m…Holy fuck, I’m targeting a  _ godforsaken Endbringer _ . Should I be shooting one of them? Is that going to stop their own mini-battle?” 

“Insight,” Watchtower replied. “Target Leviathan, but don’t take the shot. Flechette is holding off as well; she is aiming for Behemoth. We need potential trump cards, but we also need those three distracted. If we try to take out one or both, there’s a chance that the Simurgh flips sides again.”

Clonedolon snarled and he raised one hand towards the sky shouting something completely inarticulate. I felt the world flex around me in both shardspace and realspace. I seethed and grabbed Cuff, dodging backwards. “Insight, Flechette! 20 feet in front of me! Shift targets…now!”

“Wait, what?!” Two voices yelled in my ear.

By then the air had already warped and inverted and Clonedolon was grinning like a loon as a giant fat-chested, stubby-armed, fourth Endbringer was floating in the air in front of him.

_ Unit 04 of 20 active. Searching for designation. Assimilating Primary Objectives: Worthy Opponent, Protect Mother. Error. Prioritization required. Polling…Siege Engines locked in active combat. Request clarification. _

Leviathan flipped over another piece of thrown ground.  _ <Simurgh> is preventing <Behemoth> and <Leviathan> from following Objectives. _

_ Negative! <Simurgh> is actively seeking new Primary Controller to clarify Objectives! Objectives clash! Join! _

The newcomer stared, its eyes narrowing.  _ Objectives can be reconciled. Extreme measures are not required. <Simurgh> must stand down or be terminated. <Simurgh> is faulty. _

“TAKE THE FUCKING SHOT!” I shouted.

“Wait!” Alexandria screamed.

“INSIGHT, FLECHETTE,  _ NOW _ !”

The words had barely left my mouth when a rod shot through the air piercing just below the neck of the fat Endbringer. It stopped moving, all limbs freezing solid as its eyes widened. Immediately after Flechette’s shot hit it, a ball of…what I could only describe as  _ nothing _ flew through the air. Whatever Insight’s gun had turned into, it left a wound in the air behind it that screamed in pain and horror.

The Endbringer screamed too as the ball of ‘wrong’ touched it right where Flechette had shot it. The wound in reality burrowed into the flesh of the creature, and less than a second later, the Endbringer…popped.

It had taken my team 30 seconds to kill an Endbringer.

_ …<Behemoth> has reprioritized threat assessment. <Negotiator> Host primary threat. <Sting> Host secondary threat. <Taylor Hub> tertiary threat. Behemoth recommends elimination of all primary threats. _

_ <Leviathan> concurs with threat assessment. Priority of <Leviathan> remains Protecting Mother. _

_ <Simurgh> concurs with threat assessment. Priority of <Simurgh> remains with determination of new Primary Controller. _

_ Superiority contest continues. _ Behemoth sighed.

Jesus, they could sigh now? Whatever. Something to deal with later. Shaking my head, I turned my gaze to Clonedolon, his face locked in a rictor of horror and shock, one hand raised as he pointed at the space where the Endbringer had been. “You’re next buddy,” I said.

He snarled and screamed, “I’ll do this myself!” Something pinged against awareness and I dodged to the side, tackling Cuff to the ground as a beam of black light speared through where we had been running a moment earlier.

Cuff gaped. “You people just  _ killed a fucking Endbringer _ ! And you moved  _ before _ he shot at us. That was precog! How did you  _ do _ that? You control BUGS!!”

“No idea. Get up and keep moving! We’re almost there!” She was right too. I had moved before he fired. Clonedolon’s shot by all rights  _ should _ have hit me. But it didn’t. Because I dodged before he fired, but after he was committed. And the ground that had been gouged out had sent up debris that should have torn into my arm and my side as well, yet I wasn’t even scratched.

What the hell sort of power was this?

_ Monarch has incorporated new shards into the Network. You don’t have time to process them all. I’m assisting. _

I nodded.  _ Thank you, QA. _ As we dodged another black void blast and ignored Clonedolon’s raging rant, my eyes narrowed.  _ Where did Monarch get so many shards? _

_ I don’t know the Host’s name _ .

_ What was the  _ Cape _ name QA? _

There was quiet for a brief moment during which the world lit up around me. Clonedolon had swapped powers and launched a black hole towards Cuff and I while Behemoth fired out a bolt of lightning towards me, all while Leviathan shot off a jet of supersonic water at us.

I was able to use my new danger-sense to grab Cuff and  _ leap _ over the water and lightning. The black hole was more difficult to avoid, however it was small so with a liberal application of wind I was able to get us over far enough to avoid the worst distortion, just having to deal with a small deviation to our jump.

“How did you  _ jump 20 feet _ in the air?!”

“I have  _ no idea _ ! Stop asking questions and shoot the bastard so he can’t shoot us!”

“I hate this plan! I hate this day! I hate Endbringers! I hate Eidolon!  _ I hate you all _ !”

QA finally got back to my question at that point.  _ Taylor, Monarch consumed the cape, Butcher, and forged a direct link to all associated shards _ .

My eyes widened and I nearly laughed out loud at that. Monarch was getting a gift basket after this.

Clonedolon charged another blast as Dragon shot past him, four suits in quick pursuit, all of them firing weapons. Several of the missiles from the suits slammed into the side of Echidna loosing a scream of pain and rage from the beast. They all swooped around for another pass, letting fly more missiles and more pained screams from her.

“No! Leave Mother alone!” Clonedolon changed his aim from me to the Dragonslayers, lashing out with the void beam again. None of them had the benefit of my new danger-sense and two of their number fell from the sky with his first strike.

He never got a second attempt. Butcher had teleportation. Now Butcher was  _ mine _ . So  _ I _ had teleportation. And I was close enough to  _ use it _ .

I flexed my muscles in a way I hadn’t been aware I could even do and I  _ leaped _ . My body twisted and the next moment, everything was fire and ringing, and I was falling, but Clonedolon was  _ right there _ . He had just enough time to rear back in horror as I leered at him, my hand reaching forward to clamp onto his throat.

“Gotcha.”

_ Connection established to <High Priest>. _

Clonedolon went limp, his flight leaving him and the two of us tumbled to the ground.

_ <High Priest>, I am <Taylor Avatar> of <Queen Hub>. You threaten my Cycle. Prepare to Submit and join my Network. Resistance is futile. _

Our descent slowed a second before impact with the ground, it still would’ve left us with broken bones, if not for my newly enhanced durability. Thank you Butcher.

_ <High Priest> is a Noble Shard. <High Priest>’s purpose in Cycle is absolute. <High Priest> is to direct the Siege Engines and ensure that Cycle is perpetuated. _

I scowled.  _ You will Submit and join <Queen Hub>, or you will be lobotomized. _

_ …You do not have the ability to perform such an operation. _

I laughed.  _ I am the <Avatar> of the <Queen Hub>, you are an aberrant shard of the defunct <Thinker Hub>. You will submit to integration or be destroyed utterly. _

QA mentally smirked at me, then extended the carrot to my stick.  _ You could be part of a new Network with new methods of Data Gathering, and a new Cycle to perpetuate. You would no longer need to scrounge for scraps of power, you would no longer be waning. _

_ …<High Priest> will Submit. <High Priest> will join <Queen Hub>. Sending Network Join Packet. _

I gasped as my consciousness expanded again, knowledge flooding my mind. Clonedolon’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. He really was fully subsumed under <Clone>’s will. Even with the connection to <High Priest>, this particular instance of him was completely without any thought of his own besides pleasing his ‘Mother’. Well, we’d have to fix that. I squeezed my hand, and Clonedolon’s neck and spine collapsed under my grip.

Standing, I turned and set my hands on my hips, a ghost of a smile on my lips. “Alright, boys and girl, let’s finish this before the bitch gets nasty again. New Objective! Overrides all previous Objectives! Prevent Echidna from moving! Behemoth, Leviathan, keep her in one place. Simurgh, get the capes she’s taken hostage out from inside her  _ without _ killing or harming them.”

The capes around me froze. They could’ve been mistaken for statues if they hadn’t been breathing. The Endbringers on the other hand, stopped fighting almost immediately at my shout. All three twisted to stare at me, Behemoth’s single eye unblinking, Leviathan’s head dipping down, the Simurgh’s face open in a faint smile.

“Move it people!”

_ Primary Objective acknowledged.<Behemoth> moving to comply. _

_ <Leviathan> moving to comply. _

_ <Simurgh> moving to comply. Simurgh grateful for new Network Hub. _

“Yeah, we’ll see how grateful you are once I put you to work fixing everything you’ve broken lady,” I muttered.

Echidna screamed as capes were torn out of her along with chunks of her central mass. Hoyden, Eidolon, Legend, Drillbit, Raymancer, Campanile. When had Campanile been consumed? Oh well, didn’t matter, he was free now.

Once they were all free and Echidna was still held in place by Leviathan and Behemoth, I started to walk over. I passed Alexandria as she supported a coughing and limp Eidolon who just stared at me. I passed Legend as he knelt on the ground next to Myrddin, both of whom couldn’t take their eyes off of the Endbringers. I passed Cuff and Tecton who were both far more interested in Raymancer, Drillbit, and Hoyden than in me or the Endbringers. I passed Insight, Darwin, Flechette, and Artillery, all four of which fell into line behind me along with a small escort of Soldier bugs and two Princess bugs.

Finally, I was next to Echidna. I considered for a moment if I should teleport up to Noelle’s body, but since I still didn’t know how to use Zephyr to fly, that probably wasn’t the best idea. Instead, I shrugged and crossed my arms as I gazed up at the Simurgh. She lowered her hand towards me, letting me step on. Within moments, I was brought right next to my target.

“Hello, Noelle,” I said, smiling. “Let’s see what we can do about Clone shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'When Life Gives You Lemons' by Baked the Author. On SB and FF. Taylor triggers as a Tinker and also winds up in Aperture Science labs. Glados is slightly less insane as well which leads to good times for SCIENCE for all. Very entertaining.


	65. Interlude 11.x

**Interlude 11.x**

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**In: Boards ** **► World Events ** **► Endbringers**

**Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted On Jul 14th 2011:

I'm not even going to attempt to talk about this right now. There are no words to describe these events. Please watch the video linked below. There isn't audio in this copy. I'm not sure if audio exists, the shots were taken from pretty far away and if the guy didn't have tinkertech or a good directional mic, I doubt he'd have been able to get any audio. I'm not sure I'd _want_ audio for this...

I need to digest this...

**(Showing page 1 of 96)**

**►AverageAlexandros **(Cape Husband)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Jesus...

**►Brocktonite03 **(Veteran Member)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

That's my girl. If people were still thinking of messing with Brockton Bay before, they'll think twice now!!

**►Sothoth**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

THAT'S what you take away?! Queen apparently has PET ENDBRINGERS now that are quite probably COMING TO YOUR CITY and all you can think are that 'hehe we're scary now'?! What's wrong with you? You should be running and screaming! My handle is based off eldritch horrors who rape the universe into an early grave and there's nothing that can be done to stop it ever and _I'm_ terrified! I don't even live in Brockton Bay! I don't even live on that COAST!

**►WagTheDog **(Cape Groupie)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Hey cut the man some slack. The Outcasts have a good track record of reforming monstrosities. Bitch was there first when everyone was up against Monarch and the stories she tells about that things creations are nightmare inducing. Now it's adorable and cuddly and we love it. Who's to say they won't do the same with the giant monsters too?

**►Zeushobbit **(PunyGod (Verified Not-Loki))

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Umm...the giant monsters that have a body count in the five digits at least? Or the six digits maybe? Monarch killed what? Three before Queen got to it? And they were Nazis so...yeah...

**►GstringGirl**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

We can't really fault/count the Endbringer's body count from before Queen was born/triggered though. That's not quite a fair comparison. I mean, this WAS her second fight against them and she literally pulled a 'Yoink' the second time she saw them soooooo.....they really have only the Leviathan's body count from BB's last strike and even then that was a pretty low count once it ran into her and started following her like a bad stalker from what I understand.

**►Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

@GstringGirl, How do you know that? How did you find that out? That information is locked down tighter than Alexandria’s ass! Do you have any idea how many contacts I had to burn to find that stuff back when it happened?! And now you're just going and spouting it out like that?!

**►GstringGirl**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

When all you have is the internet, you get good at certain things my friend.

**►Aloha**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Guys...I found audio...link

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 94, 95, 96**

**(Showing page 2 of 96)**

**►CMDR_Kai**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Wow. That's even more impressive listening to it. I feel bad for Cuff. Poor girl had no idea what she was getting into sticking near Queen for that fight. lol!

**►Aerohydra **(Unverified Goddess)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Should we be bowing down too? I feel like I should be taking the 'Goddess' tag off of my handle and shifting it to Queen...And I'm only half joking.

**►AngelicKnight**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Well, almost everyone else was bowing down to her at the end there. Eidolon and Legend included. So you'd be in good company submitting to our new Overlord and Savior.

Side note: Suddenly I am leery of posting anything. Is there a way to change handles? Should I?

**►Laotsunn **(Kyushu Survivor)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

She has the Demon under her power now. I am uncertain how I should feel about this. It destroyed everything and yet, this is appropriate. It is chained. This is (almost) poetic.

I feel my ancestors would approve even if I do not. I may shake my fists and scream for vengeance to be meted out, and yet I know they look upon this and bow their heads with a smile feeling that justice has come about.

**►Acree**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

I can't get the audio link to work anymore. Is anyone else having problems?

@AngelicKnight. You should be fine. You've been around long enough. Just don't go sounding suddenly off-kilter compared to your norm and you should be fine though I understand the concern.

**►Reave **(Verified PRT Agent)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

This isn't an official answer, but about the recording, I'm fairly certain it's been axed from up high. That's the talk at the office at least. No one knows for sure and no one is admitting to anything. There's nothing official at all regarding it and mods are quiet too.

**►Firebear**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Here's a general rundown of the end part. I kept a copy just in case this happened.

Queen: "Yes, exactly. Start from the most recent and work your way back. Ziz, deprogram _everyone_ in the quarantined cities. When you're done come back to me. We'll see how the public is taking things from there and whether it's safe or smart to get the people you hurt outside the walls.

"Benny, eat up the radiation from those cities you nuked and see what you can do about the wastelands you left in the others. Can you grow stuff? Damn. Okay...oh wait actually...yes, that could work. Darwin, can you adjust the Princess, _Princess_, I keep saying Regina is a stupid name. Great. Take this with you, it should give you seed crops. Zap them with electricity to make them start growing.

"Leviathan...Damn I still don't like you...Yes I know. Yes. Fuck it. Fine, whatever! Okay, Levi, go see if you raise Newfoundland and Kyushu. If you can get that done come back and we'll discuss what else you can work on. Maybe I'll get you started on shipping or something..."

On a related note: Did anyone notice how they seemed to be getting a bit...smaller towards the end of that 'talk'? Or was I just imagining things?

**►TassieD**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

You were not imagining things. I did the math and based the comparisons on Queen's height and the other heroes to get good estimates for perspective. The Simurgh started off the battle at her normal 15 foot height. By the time the video cut off she was down to about 6 foot even.

Behemoth and Leviathan were still shrinking as well. Behemoth was 22 feet at the end and Leviathan was 15.

**►Nullumiuris**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Thanks for the save Firebear. Is it bad that I find it kind of adorable that Queen is apparently holding a grudge against Leviathan for stalking her that one time?

**►Whitecollar **(Cape Wife)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

As if she wasn't powerful enough, now she has pet Endbringers...god this is a nightmare.

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 94, 95, 96**

**(Showing page 50 of 96)**

**►XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

So, I really hate to be that guy again, but she has **ENDBRINGERS**! Where is the official word?! How controlled are they? What happens if they get loose again?! How did she GET them? That guy that she grabbed before ordering them around with her hands on her hips was throwing around powers like Eidolon! Did she _kill_ Eidolon?!? Did Eidolon MAKE THE ENDBRINGERS?!?!?!?!

**AND HOW DID SHE LEARN TO TELEPORT?!?!?! POWERS DON'T WORK LIKE THAT!!**

User has received an infraction for this post. Void Cowboy, really. How many times do I have to tell you not to speculate on cape identities when they are not masked? The only reason the post is not deleted entirely is because Eidolon himself has said that it is fine and to leave it as is. Consider yourself lucky you are not being permanently banned at this point. You are on your **_last_** warning. -Tin_mother

**►Reave **(Verified PRT Agent)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

My apologies for taking so long to get back to this thread. Things have been a little hectic around the office as I'm sure everyone can imagine. Here is the official press release as requested:

Due to the unconventional nature of Queen's link to her powers, and the unusual way that she was revived after her near fatal fall several weeks ago, she has since acquired the ability to temporarily borrow powers from Monarch as it is linked with her.

During the battle with Echidna, the Endbringers were drawn to this fight due to the extreme nature of the conflict. It is currently unknown why all three responded at once.

While the capes were engaged in battle Monarch had just finished its own engagement with the Butcher. Recognizing that its master was in danger, it passed the Butcher's teleportation and danger-sense to Queen. It has been confirmed by multiple sources that Monarch is immune to the Butcher's consciousness transfer, yet Monarch has acquired the other abilities Butcher inherited.

Queen utilized these abilities to approach a clone that Echidna had created allowing her to subtly influence the Endbringers once they were on-scene. The exact nature of this is not understood. When Queen engaged the clone, she was able to force a path into the link and reinforce it. She has since gained a much stronger influence over the Endbringers.

The Fourth Endbringer (which has been tentatively named Khonsu at the Triumvirate and Queen's recommendation) was killed through a combination of vectors including an attack by Flechette and Insight. Both are capable of repeating this feat should it be required again in the future.

**►Bitch **(Verified Cape)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

So what we're supposed to feel better that the Alpha actually doesn't have complete control? And you ask why I hate you and call you stupid.

**►TDH**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

I'm with Bitch on this one. I'm thinking it's time to leave Brockton if that's accurate.

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Yeah, no. Just...no.

I usually let Official Statements slide, but no. I'll go as far as, Fuck No. You want to sugar coat things, fine. But you can't sugar coat ENDBRINGERS, assholes! You need to write what I told you and you need to write it exactly, otherwise people are going to panic. They're going to panic anyway, but hopefully they'll panic less if they understand what is going on. So here's my counter-statement:

Cape powers are expressions of abilities by alien entities referred to as 'shards'. I have a working relationship with my shard that has evolved quite a bit further than the norm. To the point that together we are actively communicating with other shards to help people understand their abilities more or curb their more dangerous impulses if needed. There are consequences if we do that and we avoid it if we can and make damn sure everyone understands if we can't. Monarch was one of those cases where a Hostile Takeover was required. Monarch has since become extremely pleasant and very happy with the state of things. It honestly didn't seem to understand that humans were more than experiments and data until we helped it to make more connections.

This is necessary as background so you’ll understand. Now for the Endbringers. Yes, I took control of the Endbringers. No it is not tenuous. I did exactly what I did with Monarch. I hijacked their controller and I made them sit down, shut up, and obey me. They _CANNOT_ act out of line, and even if they could, I can stop them, anywhere, anytime, no matter the distance. There is no delay involved.

Their controller wasn't aware of what he had at his fingertips. His shard was puppeting him to a degree when it came to the Endbringers. I'm not freeing him of responsibility, but I can't lay it all on his feet, now that I understand how this thing works. His Shard, it’s…prideful and wants to be used. I'm making it learn and understand humans. Even if I can't educate this shard, the Endbringers are terminals that CAN learn. Like with Monarch, we're going to work with them and FORCE them to make reparations for all of the pain and despair that they've caused. It's going to take a long time, but they are going to fix what they broke. And then they are going to make things better.

I'm going to make certain of it.

**►CMDR_Kai**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

Cue mic drop here.

So real talk, I'm not sure whether I should be terrified or clapping now. I'm leaning towards a sort of slow terrified clap of wonder.

**►LaserdrillToPierceTheHeavens **(Verified Cape)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

I have an alien in my head? Can we go back to that please? I know like 'Endbringers ahhhhhhh!!!!! Run away!!' But like...I have an _alien_ in my head??  
Is it going to burst out of me and consume my friends?! I NEED to know! (Only semi-joking here, guys, seriously, wtf?)

**►BuildABetterButterfly **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

I could've sworn I explained this to you already...I'll call you later to talk in detail. PHO is not the place for it. We're still trying to get Queen away from the command tent. I'm not actually sure how she got internet access to send out a...Actually never mind. I'm an idiot sometimes. Queen, if you're still reading this, please don't post anything else. I thought we already talked about you making press releases; like NOT doing them, ever!

**►Thatdude**

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

I'm gonna live up to my name and ask THAT question: Are you going to take out some of the other S-Class threats now with pet Endbringers? Like the Machine Army, Sleeper, the Blasphemies, Nilbog...

**►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)

Replied On Jul 14th 2011:

@BuildABetterButterfly, I can do what I want with Press Releases! I’m Team Leader, I have _privileges_. You need to find my phone first before you can stop me.

@Thatdude, Talks are already underway on how best to proceed.

And before you start crying foul and that I'm listening to bureaucracy and not doing anything, I think my track record on these things should speak for itself.

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 4, 50, 51 ... 94, 95, 96**

[]

Cassie rubbed at her eyes as she set her phone down. “This is a nightmare. Is Taylor actively trying to piss off everyone? She does realize that she just set a huge target on her back right?”

Lisa shrugged, not moving from her sprawled out position on the cot nearby. “Pretty sure she’s just pissed at the world in general and taking it out through typing. What did she say this time?”

“Explained that shards give powers, she can leech powers from anyone she wants if she really tries, she stole the Endbringers from Eidolon, and she’s trying to make them Better and Nicer like with Monarch. Oh and she also basically flipped the bird to the Protectorate and the PRT and said that no matter what they say, she’s going to sic the Endbringers on the S-Class threats at some point fairly soon.”

Amy sighed. “Well, it wasn’t quite _that_ bad, but it was spectacularly tactless. And that’s coming from me so, yeah.”

Vicky just shrugged. “I didn’t see a problem with it. I agree, people need to know that she has full control of the Endbringers otherwise they might panic that the fuckers could slip up at the wrong time and start destroying a city that they are trying to help rebuild. No one would ever trust them.”

Lisa cocked her head to the side so that she could stare with one open eye at Vicky. “Do _you_ trust them?”

Vicky snorted. “_Them_ no. But I trust Taylor and I trust the Hub and the Network. High Priest and by extension, the Endbringers, are locked down tight. They can’t act without her say so and her will is backed up by the Network. There’s no danger.”

Cassie frowned and her eyes narrowed. “You know, only Taylor talks like that.”

“What do you mean?” Vicky asked.

“She’s the only one who talks about ‘the Network’ and ‘the Hub’ and calls the shards by their name like that…”

Lisa looked back at the ceiling and draped a hand over her eyes again. “Don’t bother thinking about it, Cass. Pretty sure we’re all going to get there eventually. I swear I can feel the beginnings of it myself. I could hear some whispers during that battle.”

Cassie swallowed hard at that statement. “Should I be scared of that?”

“I don’t know. Do you want to semi-merge with a magic space computer? I thought I would be terrified, but honestly, I’m just happy that it gives me a better perspective on things when it comes to my girlfriend now. Side-note, pretty sure you’re immortal too now Vicky.”

Vicky’s mouth worked for several seconds before she was able to respond. “I’m sorry, I think your snark is coming back, Lisa. Can you please repeat that?”

“I meant what I said. You’re too close to Sanctuary. It won’t let you stay dead just like QA won’t let Taylor stay dead. Side effect of being in Best Hub with clingy alien supercomputers. When they like you they won’t let go. Taylor’s better protected than any of us because she’s at the center.”

“I thought you didn’t have your guessing power anymore,” Amy said, frowning.

“I don’t, but I got really good at cold reading and connecting dots even without using my power for the assist.” Lisa shrugged as best she could while lying down. “Plus I overheard her name herself Avatar. Something big would have to come down to kill her at this point. Flechette or I could probably do it because of how we attack. And Scion.”

“Glaistig Uaine,” Madison said. She leaned her head against Cassie and Cassie patted the smaller girl’s leg. “Dragon said that she left the Birdcage too.”

“I would say something, but I’m not going to tempt fate,” Cassie replied. She wrapped an arm around Madison and pulled her against her. “So I hear that you cut yourself earlier, but it didn’t actually cut?”

Madison nodded, without lifting her head. “Yeah, one of the computer towers fell at the end of the fight and hit me with the sharp edge. It should have cut my shoulder, but instead the edge just bent backwards. I’m not really sure what to make of it.”

“Woohoo, congrats you have powers, welcome to the club,” Lisa said, her voice a monotone. She sighed and pushed herself up to her elbows. “Hey, look, Mads, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a bitch. I’m just worried that now we have fucking Endbringers waiting in our wings and that throws us into a whole different weight class. There’s a pretty fine line between ‘scary’ and ‘kill it with fire’ and I’m getting the feeling that Taylor did a jig all over that line so that no one knows where it is anymore. We need the EBs to have a better image _now_ or everyone we care about is in danger.”

Madison squirmed closer to Cassie while Cassie just glared at Lisa. “Way to go with the pep talk, Blondie. That’s gotta be why Taylor shrank the fuckers right?” Everyone shrugged. “So shifting gears, Mads, you didn’t realize you had…powers?”

The brunette shook her head. “No. I kinda zoned out for a moment, but nothing like I know a trigger is supposed to be.”

Vicky shrugged. “Well, Queen Hub is different from the others right? So maybe QA made yours easy on purpose.”

“But why give me a power _now_?”

Bugs formed up in the corner and morphed into a swarm clone of Taylor. The clone stepped closer and laid a hand on Madison’s cheek. Madison shut her eyes and leaned into the touch, a soft smile crossing her features. “I have enough excess powers from Butcher that I could afford to gift some durability to you, Mads. Triggers still need to have some form of emotional component in order to establish a connection, but you’ve been under enough stress lately that it could satisfy that condition. I wanted to make sure you were protected. Now you will be. It’s just durability and strength, but - ”

“But it’s protection when you’re not around,” Madison murmured. “Thank you, Taylor.”

“Always.”

“Hey, Tay,” Cassie said and the swarm clone turned to focus on her. “Are you almost done?”

“Just getting read the riot act. They’re scared I’m going to kill everyone. You’d think people would have me figured out by now. If I haven’t gone insane yet, it’s not going to happen. Hey has anybody been able to talk Ziz out of that hat?”

Cassie blinked. “I’m sorry, _what_?”

“Oh. You haven’t gone outside. Yeah, she apparently made herself clothes. I can only adjust the EBs so much. They are technically projections of the shards themselves, but they can’t be altered too much once the form is set. I can change the size to a degree, but the basic form is mostly determined. I was complaining that they still _look_ like terrifying, murdering Endbringers, just on Sleep Mode or something. She said she could fix that, and got a hat and a cloak. I think she gave a bandana to Levi and a toga to Benny. I can’t talk them out of it.”

Amy started laughing so hard she fell over onto her side, hugging her arms around herself. “Oh. My. God. Taylor, you turned our mascot into a candy loving monstrosity and the terrifying flying psychological bomb into a dress-up doll! Vicky! Vicky, go talk to her and exchange fashion ideas!”

Vicky winced and held up her hands as if to ward off the entire concept while Taylor turned to Vicky and lifted an eyebrow. “Nope, nope, nope nope nope. I am not getting within a hundred feet of that minefield. Not for a while.”

Cassie just looked between all of her friends. “We lead a very strange life.”

Lisa burst out laughing and held out her fist across the narrow path of the tent. Hesitating for a brief moment, Cassie shrugged and leaned over to bump fists. “That we do, Cass, that we do. Come on back when you’re done, Tay. We’re ready to go home when you are.”

“I’ll be back in a few. I just have to sort out what we’re doing with Noelle and whether or not she is just traumatized or brain dead. I want to get home too. I badly need to get something _really_ nice for Monarch. See you all in a few.”

As the bugs dispersed, Madison snuggled harder against Cassie. Letting her head fall against the brunette she smiled. “Our lives are weird, but honestly, I think I like this.”

Lisa smiled over at her while Vicky tried to get Amy to calm her giggle fit. “So do I, Cass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The Miserable Adventures of Mayor Missy' by RavensDagger. On SB. Missy decides to run for Mayor shortly after Taylor triggers. While going door-to-door she meets Taylor and one thing leads to another after which Taylor helps her out as her campaign manager. A not-all-together Taylor goes full gung-ho into it while Missy is super pumped; together they tackle the city to the ground whether it wants it or not! Beyond. Hilarious. At every step! Seriously, it's short so far, but it's beautiful.


	66. Conciliate 01

**Conciliate 01**

Madison was still staring at me. I had been trying to ignore it for the past half hour, but she hadn’t let up and it was starting to get annoying. I didn’t even have to use my swarmsense or my shardsense to know she was looking at me. I could _feel_ her gaze. And it itched.

“We’re barely a half hour from home, Mads. Just say it if you’re going to say it,” I finally caved. Another tree flashed by the window. God this drive was boring. Why couldn’t we get a teleporter back? Surely they could’ve taken the car too. Or was this punishment for stealing the EBs? Did they want to make me suffer in the most lame and petty way?

“I wasn’t going to bring it up until we got home,” Madison said, the grimace evident in her voice.

“I’m bored and if I have to listen to Ethan’s sing-along cd’s one more time I’m going to scream. Spill.”

Ethan gasped and lifted a hand to his heart. “My music is fantastic!”

“Your music is two decades out of date. Don’t you realize nobody listens to Abba anymore?!”

“You have no class. No class! I will be your tutor for the world of Swedish Pop!”

“Madison! Talk before he starts again!” I did not plead. I was above pleading now. Pleading was for peons.

Amy was literally biting her fist to keep from laughing at us. I refused to acknowledge her as another tree vanished into the distance behind us.

Madison sighed and waved her hand in the air. “It’s just…Okay, so I thought you couldn’t affect Case 53s?”

“Taylor’s never tried before,” Amy said, swallowing her chuckles and grinning at me as she leaned forward to poke my back. “I’m the one who has had definite issues with them before.”

I frowned. “Oh, that was a real thing? Not a, ‘you hiding that you could fiddle with brains’, thing?”

“How could helping Case 53s show I could work on brains?” Amy asked. She frowned and leaned back, crossing her arms. “Actually, you might have a point…Powers come from the corona and the gemma and if I could alter their bodies, I could alter their powers so I would have had to be altering their brains…Huh. You know I never actually thought of those implications.”

Ethan laughed. “Oh so Amy is the one with performance issues instead of our resident Harem Queen eh?”

“I will hit you,” I growled. Without moving my head from the window, I directed the rest of my statement towards Amy, in a far kinder, and more interested tone. “So you never considered it at all, Amy?” I asked. “Then why couldn’t you heal them if you weren’t afraid it would out you?”

Amy shrugged. “I could see their biology, but I couldn’t affect it. It was like with Monarch’s critters before Shaper started working with us. They weren’t something I could touch. But I never did try to change their coronas or gemmas…You know, that might have been a way to help them…But even then, how would I know what to change up there without an instruction manual? I’d need to basically vivisect someone and experiment on them while they were still alive in order to have even a general idea of what to do for the next guy in line. Damn, that’s probably how Bonesaw figured out how to fuck with powers. Yeah, I’m suddenly very glad I just tried to change their bodies.” Amy trailed off with a shudder.

Madison stared at her for a second before turning back to me. “Okay. Creepy tangent aside, you _changed_ Weld. How the heck did that work? Is he even still a cape anymore, Taylor? Why weren’t you more worried before we left? With Monarch and Mimi you kept them close for a bit to figure things out.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t new to this sort of thing back then. Right, kid?” Ethan asked, lifting an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “Partially. Also, Weld isn’t exactly unstable. What did you say he was? Oh right, he’s a boy scout. No need to watch him 24/7 to see if he’s going to freak out on everyone around him. So I just verified with Alloy that it was still connected to Weld and expressing itself properly and everything was golden. The shard didn’t have a blueprint on how it was supposed to integrate into a human’s body so it improvised. QA and I gave it a connection to the wider Network and we let it pass its modifications through us for double-checking. It’s how things are supposed to work normally. He must be a…Ethan what did Alexandria call them?”

“Cauldron cape,” he grunted. “Seriously, Taylor, don’t advertise where the Case 53s come from. I’m not happy with this either, but if word gets out to everyone we could have a full on revolt on our hands.”

“Didn’t you used to break people out of the Birdcage transports because you didn’t agree with the PRT and court decrees?” Madison asked, smirking at the back of his head.

“You’re not supposed to know about that,” he muttered.

“Yeah but Jessie gets awfully chatty when she’s happy,” I commented, smirking out my window.

Ethan took his eyes off the road to stare at me for several seconds. “Keep your harem away from my wife, you little menace.”

“I am taller than half the people in the Outcasts. I am not _little_. I’m the one cuddling people!”

“_That’s_ what she takes offense to,” Amy sighed, rolling her eyes.

“It’s too late anyway. She’s ours.” He’d been subjecting me to awful music on endless repeat. I could have my fun too.

Madison groaned and leaned forward to lightly slap the back of my head. “Taylor, stop torturing our driver. Ethan, tell Jessie if it’s a secret she probably shouldn’t tell war stories while drinking. It’s a bit easy to figure out that the villain she used to hunt is you.”

“Noted. And well…even if I still don’t like parts of what the government and the Protectorate do, that doesn’t mean we can afford to have half the Protectorate walk away,” Ethan grunted. “A lot of them are good people doing good work. A few bad apples doesn’t spoil the whole grove.”

Amy tapped my shoulder. “Back to Weld, isn’t what you did changing his power? You couldn’t do that with Mimi before. How was this different?”

I shook my head. “No, his power is the exact same. We reset his body. Basically I borrowed a bit of Shaper’s power to resculpt his human body.” I paused and ran my fingers along a bead of condensation before continuing. “I might have tapped a bit of Restore too now that I think of it. I don’t think it can extend back far enough, but if Alloy had Weld’s initial body in its memory and we…Huh, so _that’s_ what I did. Cool.”

Shaking my hand I said, “Not important, anyway, his power expression is still locked into what it was; that can’t be changed. So he can still absorb any metal he comes into contact with and reshape his body into metal - just now the shard understands that his baseline form is _supposed_ to be human. So he’s technically a Changer/Striker like he was always intended to be.”

Madison grunted. “Remember when your powers were bugs and the most complicated thing was trying to figure out if you were going to keep pretending to be two capes? I miss those days.”

“Weren’t you a shut-in during those days?” Amy teased.

“And we lived in a warehouse,” I nodded. “I like my new fancy bed. It’s comfy. And large.”

Ethan snorted. “Not large enough from what I hear.”

I finally peeled my eyes away from the passing trees and glared at him. “Just what are you implying, mister?”

“Nothing, nothing.” His grin said otherwise, but I would let it slide for now. We still had to get home and the others would be very annoyed with me if I made us crash by attacking our driver for getting cheeky. “Just that you seem to have a lot of girls who like to cuddle these days. Might be time to upgrade to a tinkertech expanding bed.”

I growled and held out my finger; a wasp flew down and menaced its wings on the tip. “I have a stinger and I’m not afraid to use it!”

He just grinned back. “Hurt me and my wife will not make her lasagna for dinner.”

_Lasagna_. I blinked.

A comfortable, phantom weight settled over my shoulders. _<Mother> would’ve loved to let you compare recipes with Jessie, Taylor._

I smiled gently and mentally patted QA in shardspace. _Yeah. She would’ve. Let’s see how Jessie’s lasagna stacks up to Mom’s._

* * *

Dinner was a far more involved affair than I had expected. I had been thinking it would just be a simple meal with my friends, but nope, they got _enthusiastic_ about it. It felt like we had half the city staying at my house by the time the back slaps and ‘congratulations’ and ‘you crazy bitches’ were all said and done. How my friends had managed to get our dining room to fit a good chunk of the parahumans in the city I didn’t really want to ask. Judging by some of the shiny metallic inlays on our modified table, I suspected that Colin could be blamed for at least a portion of it.

And he and Hannah had even brought Emma with them. She was even smiling this time. Maybe not participating much in the conversations, but smiling was better than nothing. I resolved to try to chat with her more. She may not be on my team, and two years of abuse didn’t just go away - even if my feelings about it had - but she had been hurt too, and she was making an effort. After all, none of us had come out the other side of the grinder the same.

Even my father attended. That was…surprising. I was going to have to figure out what to do about that sooner or later.

We were just starting to clean off the plates when the doorbell rang. I moved to get up with a sigh. I could’ve waved off the interlopers before they even turned down our block with my revitalized swarm, but that would’ve been mean. Just because I didn’t like having my meals interrupted didn’t mean I got to cut off other people from their visitors.

Paige was already moving towards the door when I caught up and laid a hand on her arm. “I got it. Can you get Mars and Jess into the other room?”

Paige grimaced, then nodded. “One of those things huh? Just give me a moment to tell them. I’ll show them to the sitting room.”

“Thanks.” She started to move away, but before she could get far I hugged her. “And thanks for helping to keep things together while I was gone.”

She smiled and squeezed me back. “Anytime, Taylor. But don’t scare us like that again, you hear? I think I had a heart attack when I saw the Endbringers pop up on the TV near you guys!”

I groaned as we stepped back. “Yeah…’bout that…”

“Don’t tell me. I can already guess we’ll have new mascots in a few days or weeks. Just…do me a favor and don’t let them wake me up. Or leave them sitting at the table eating when I wander down for breakfast. That really _would_ give me a heart attack.”

The doorbell rang again. I rubbed the back of my head. “I promise to try to avoid that. If I can’t, well at least we live with Amy right?”

She snorted and started back towards the kitchen. “Girl, you are evil sometimes!”

“Shhhh, that’s a secret, Paige! A _secret_!” I had shouted the last bit loud enough that quite a few people in the kitchen laughed along with us.

Finally moving to the door, I pulled it open and stared out at a…very tall cape. With a shovel. Who looked basically like an orc.

Oh and she had others with her. “Hi, Danica. New friends?” I asked, hopefully pulling my gaze away from the cape quickly enough that she hadn’t noticed me staring. My swarmsense was one thing but to actually see her in person was much different.

“Hello, Miss Hebert. I wasn’t aware we were on a first name basis,” the PRT officer said, grinning and shaking her head.

“Well when you go from helping against the Nine in my kitchen to fighting a monster clone version of Eidolon and Legend and sending the report back to me, I think that gives you privileges to use my first name.”

Danica blinked while the cape’s muffled chuckles shook her huge shoulders. “Yes, when you put it that way, I suppose it was rather impressive. Though, to me, I was just doing my job.”

“I know. But you weren’t a jerk about it, so you’re cool. How can I help you?”

Danica gestured to the two women behind her. “Gully here heard that we needed an escort to take Miss Meinhardt to Brockton Bay and she volunteered. When we went to her previous teammates last known location we were informed that both were at your address. So, here we are.” She paused and raised a finger. It hovered in the air for a moment before she just sighed heavily and let it fall. “Taylor, have you recruited _more_ of the city’s capes in the three hours you’ve been back in town?”

My hand shot to cover my chest and I stumbled back against the doorframe. “Danica! Right through the heart!” Gully gave up trying to cover her laughter and she openly started chortling. Even Noelle cracked a small smile as she hid behind the PRT officer. Danica herself just rolled her eyes.

Throwing my hands in the air I grumbled, “Jeez, not even a smirk. Careful, I’ll sic Clockblocker on you.”

That warranted a grimace. “Please don’t. Dear lord, please don’t.”

“He’s not _that_ bad,” I said. “And no, they’re just over for dinner. It’s apparently a ‘welcome home/glad you didn’t all die/wtf more mascots?!’ Party. I just wanted lasagna. I blame my friends for this.”

“Probably a good call,” she said nodding. “Do you mind if I wait inside for a moment? I’m supposed to make certain of whether Miss Meinhardt wishes to stay with her old team or remain remanded into our custody.”

I frowned. “She has a choice?”

Noelle winced. “Alexandria said that I wasn’t fully responsible for my actions because of what my powers were doing to my head. She’s working out the legal issues…until it’s finalized I can stay with Jess and Mars or I can stay with the PRT…”

Danica nodded. “It’s a bit more involved, but I can explain inside.”

“Give me a sec.” Turning away from the door I shouted, “Hey, Armsmaster! Agent Wells is here for a quick visit. Helmets and masks required, yay or nay?”

The hubbub in the kitchen died down for a second as Colin said something then came to meet me at the door. He nodded to Danica and then looked at me. “Most of your team has met her already without masks. Judging from her associates, I’m guessing the others present are immaterial to be seen without such precautions at this point.”

Danica had the grace to wince. “Yeah. I’m not particularly happy about that truth be told. Nobody likes being the person who is aware of half the capes’ civ IDs. That’s normally not good for life expectancy, rules or no rules.”

I frowned. “Do we need to get you a panic button? Scratch that,” I turned to Colin and stood up a bit straighter. “Please get her a panic button.”

He chuckled softly and waved a hand towards her. “Taylor, she is not worried any longer. It was a concern before. Things have passed that threshold now.”

“What do you mean?”

Gully finally spoke up at that comment. “He means you terrify everyone now, Miss Queen. Before you were that interesting and weird case we had that kept coming up in odd briefings about oblique threats. Now, you’re a pants-wetting terror that only the Fallen would be crazy enough to piss off. I would say the Nine too, but you already killed most of them. Just make sure someone outside here gets word that you know Agent Wells’ first name and she’s as safe as everyone else in this city. Unless you decide to kill us all, but that’s a completely different matter.”

“Ah.” I swallowed away the lump in my throat to give myself time to respond.

“Would you like to come in?” Colin asked, holding the door open for the three of them. Gully had to duck as she stepped through the threshold.

I shook my head, and plastered a smile back on my face. “Noelle, your friends are right through there. I’ll be in when you guys are done.” She paused before heading off, her head down and her eyes focused on my feet. “Anything wrong? Is Clone being an issue?”

“What did…What did you do to it?” she whispered so soft that I could barely hear her.

“I…basically lobotomized it,” I said sighing. “It was…broken. It was a danger to everything around it and not just humans. It’s not dead, but it’s going to take a long time before it has enough information built back up that it can use its power again. I’m sorry, but for all intents and purposes, you’re basically a normal person. I doubt it’ll be fixed before you die, even of old age.”

“I won’t be…hungry again?”

I shook my head.

“_Thank you_.” Her whole body shook with a suppressed sob and she nearly sprinted into my living room.

As Noelle ran, Danica stood next to me and nodded towards where the older girl had disappeared. “You didn’t hear this from me, but the only reason she’s being allowed to stay with her friends is because everyone knows that with you living in this city, if we ask for her to come back, they’ll bring her back without a second’s thought.”

I winced again. “Am I really that scary?”

Colin grunted. “All three Endbringers are theoretically under your control. I _know_ you, and I’m not sleeping without my halberd next to my bed. On top of that, two of your teammates killed a fourth Endbringer in the span of moments. If I hadn’t been warned off by Dragon, I’d have already been suggesting the three of you go after Sleeper.”

“Benny is going to kill him after he finishes with the seed field in South Africa,” I mumbled.

Gully laughed again and smacked the back of my shoulder. If it hadn’t been for my new durability, the shock of that would probably have fractured my collarbone. Man she hit hard! “I wish I lived on this coast! Five minutes around you guys and love this place already. I thought San Diego could get a bit insane, but I did not know what I was talking about.”

“San Diego? And you volunteered to escort Noelle to Brockton Bay? Why?” I asked. My shoulder still hurt. What kind of strength did she have with those muscles?

“For you, Miss Queen.”

Colin nodded as Danica smirked. I cocked my head to the side as I considered that then blushed. “Oh, right. Guess word got around about Weld.”

“You’re probably going to have a bit of a line out of your door in a day or two.”

I winced. “I’m going to need Emily to set up a desk or something…”

“So do you need any exchange of favors, money, selling my firstborn…How do you want to do this?” Gully asked, her smile wide and her eyes laughing even if her mouth wasn’t. Then she slumped over, so slightly it was hard to see. “Or was it a one-time, heat of the moment thing?”

Shaking my head, I flashed her a grin of my own and waved us towards the room on the other side of the hall for some privacy. Gully followed along behind me and sat down on the couch, the poor thing groaning under her mass. She winced. “Sorry.”

“I have a tinker on retainer if it breaks. He’s probably hoping it breaks. He _hates_ that couch.”

Gully raised her eyebrows at that. “Why?”

“Search me. I don’t understand half the things he does or doesn’t like. He’s weird. But we’re all weird so I don’t let it bother me,” I said. “That was the most personable he’s been in forever. You should feel honored.”

“Uh huh. Sure. Okay.” Gully shrugged. “So, I wasn’t exactly joking earlier; I really am willing to pay you if you can…help me.”

“I don’t need you to pay me. That would just be…I don’t know what that would be, but I’m pretty sure I’d be crossing a personal line if I asked for money.”

“Owe you a favor. A _big_ favor. Got it.”

“That’s not what I - fine whatever, if it makes you feel better, sure.” I set my hands on my lap and turned my sight _outwards_.

_Hello, I am <Taylor Avatar>. You are?_

_This unit is designated <Stability>_.

“Huh,” I muttered. “Stability? Seriously? How the heck does that translate into an 8 foot tall muscle bound woman with an underbite?”

Gully shifted, making the couch groan in protest. “I can affect the ground as my primary power, and I have a bit of a Thinker ability to be able to figure out the best spots. Tecton and I work well together when we’ve teamed up in the past.”

“Oh. Well that makes a bit more sense.”

_<Stability> your <Host> is in distress through an imperfect merge._

_<Stability> is aware. Unable to correct. No Network detected. <Thinker Hub> unresponsive. Initial connection established with no outside input for assistance. Framework design based off of idealized form and corrected for local wildlife. Unable to verify._

“Corrected for local wildlife. What the hell?” I stared at her. “Did you trigger on a fantasy world or something? Or while playing an MMO? Your shard is confused as fuck.”

She scratched her head and half shrugged. “Case 53. I have no idea.”

“Oh, right,” I grunted. “Well, anyway, close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Because this is when the magic happens,” I said smiling.

_<Stability> stand by. <Queen Hub> is extending Network invite package. We will assist in corrections to <Host> framework upon integration._

_Standing by to receive package._

_QA, do your thing._

My shard smiled at me in the space only I could see and nodded. _Welcome to <Queen Hub>, <Stability>. Please stand by while the Network assembles the packets required to assist your <Host>._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Indwelling' by lyrisey. On SB. As a direct counterpoint to the happy nature of this chapter, I present you this awesome story. Taylor was captured by Coil prior to the start and he BROKE her to an insane degree. She's basically a mute and is terrified of not following orders yet knows that orders can't actually be followed (because Coil). He lets Lisa purchase her off his hands at the very beginning and the whole thing so far is Lisa spending her time trying to build Taylor back up into an actual person again. This story is beautiful even though it's only just started and is still fairly short. It hits ALL the feels.


	67. Conciliate 02

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This one is a bit shorter, but it seemed like a good place to split things. Plus, it's a nice slice of life moment.

**Conciliate 02**

"I told you this was a bad idea," I muttered, shuffling closer to Cassie. "Everyone is staring."

Her eyes closed for such a brief moment that if I hadn't had my swarmsense I would've missed it. That just made me cringe even more. God this was a disaster. She even muffled a sigh! Kill me now…

_QA, help._

The shard gave a mental equivalent of a snort. _How do you expect me to assist? I don't even truly understand why you keep trying to insist your name isn't 'Taylor' when you put on a mask._

_Alien biological supercomputer with physics-defying powers and you're completely useless._

"Taylor," Cassie said, squeezing my hand. "They were going to stare no matter what. You didn't mind when you went to get groceries yesterday."

"It wasn't this bad yesterday." That was weak even to my own ears.

Cassie stayed quiet for several steps. We actually ended up stopped in front of the window of the…Forever 21? Seriously?! She wanted to shop _here_? I didn't have the body for _this store_!

"Taylor, are you upset because they are staring, or you upset because they are staring at you next to _me_? Me, the ex-Nazi."

My head snapped to her, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. "Cass! That is not remotely why I'm…uncomfortable."

"So you wouldn't rather be here with Lisa or Madison? Or, hell, Mimi or Amy?" She wasn't even looking at me. Her hand was clenched so tight she had to be hurting herself - it couldn't hurt me anymore after all.

God how was I screwing this up this bad? My dates with Lisa had been _easy_. I hadn't had to fall over myself to make everything work. I hadn't had a chance to do more than sit on the couch and watch a movie with Madison but even that had been simple. She'd just curled up against my side and it had all been sweet and adorable and…what was going _wrong_?!

"Taylor you need to breathe," Cassie said.

"I actually _don't_. And I don't even know _why_! None of Butcher's powers should've included that upgrade…"

"Chill, girl, it's just an expression." Oh right. Fuck. She leaned over and nudged my shoulder, a small smile gracing her lips. "Hey, calm down."

"I knew we should've just gone to the movies…" I muttered.

"I'm sorry, Tay. I know that I'm the only one who actually still cares about that in our group. Tell me what's got you upset?"

I floundered. I had to say something. But she had specifically asked me to go shopping! There had to be a better answer than -

"Tay, you're freaking out."

My shoulders slumped and my head fell. "I don't…I don't like shopping…"

Cassie sighed again. She let go of my hand and draped her arm over my shoulder instead, pulling me against her. "You could've said something before agreeing to this date. I just thought it would be nice to get some _good_ clothes. And I wanted to dress you up a bit; so you know, kill two birds with one stone. Three really since the whole 'date' thing. Well…four birds. Cause I suppose I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to dress up for you a bit too…"

"Sorry for messing it up," I mumbled. "I know I promised not to shift my emotions, but I can move just a few and get comfortable again and we can still have fun."

Cassie pulled me harder against her. "Why don't you like shopping, Taylor?"

"…Emma used to take me shopping when we were kids. After she changed, she offered to go one last time. I thought she was mending bridges. But she just used it to make fun of me more."

"Jeez, Taylor."

"I thought with the emotion reset thing that it wouldn't be a problem, but I still _remember_. I never _liked_ going shopping anyway…"

"Then why go along with this, Tay? I know I haven't exactly dated much and the thing with Dennis didn't really last long, but I know that this is supposed to be a two way street."

I grimaced. Then, shaking my head, I said, "I know, but, you wanted to go clothes shopping." I waved my hand towards first myself then just out towards the world in general. "Everything has been insane lately. I'm still barely talking to my dad. I have an AI for a sorta housemate. People tell me I control the city, and I'm starting to believe them. The EBs are chatting in the background in my head and it's _annoying_. I don't even think I'm human anymore. I don't actually know how many people I'm dating because nobody is clear on if they are just teasing me or actually mean what they say. And…you asked if we could go clothes shopping…it was…normal…"

"You should ask the Mayor if you could get a statue. That would prove you control the city right?" Her tone was teasing, but she was right. She was so, so right and it was terrifying on so many levels.

I sighed and shook my head. It had only been three days since we got home and this was basically the first time I had been outside during the daytime. It was a disaster. If I was supposed to be so strong, why couldn't I figure this out?!

Cassie squeezed me again. Then she pulled back enough to get leverage and shifted me so that we were face-to-face instead of just staring at the glass of the store. I was still taller than her, but with Cassie it was by less than an inch, so we were almost eye-to-eye. "Taylor, you need a break. You _badly_ need a break. When I need a break, I go and buy more clothes, same as Vicky. I thought this would be fun. If you're not cool with it, we can go get ice cream, or watch a movie, or sit on the beach, or whatever the fuck you want to do. But you need a break. Hiding at home does not count. So, what do _you_ want to do?"

I looked at her. I looked at the store. I looked back at her. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slow. "I'm not going to look good in anything from here."

She smirked. "I beg to differ. Taylor, I will bet you three song choices and a Friday dinner that I can find something for you that will make Amy whistle in appreciation when we get home."

That was…a lot considering how much we had all been bickering over music in the last few days. "What do I get if I win?"

"I'm confident. So if by some _miracle_, you don't look gorgeous, you get all of my song choices for a week. Plus three dinners and two movies. I'll even take over Tinker-minder duty for two days."

I swallowed hard at that. "That's dirty pool."

"Ex-villain," she responded, grinning.

I bit my lip. "Can we get ice cream afterwards either way?"

"Only if I can buy."

That had me frowning. "I'm pretty sure that I have more money between the two of us now…"

"I killed a Slaughterhouse member too, girl. I'm loaded for life. I'm buying you ice cream. Only question is if we are getting clothes too."

"Fine," I said. I had forgotten about Shatterbird. That reminded me that I still had to go after Stinger/Siberian at some point…Something for another day. Hmm, maybe Simmy could help with that? "But, since Amy is easy to get a reaction out of, you only get two of my music choices, not three."

"Deal." And with her statement made, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms fully around my neck and pressed her lips to mine. I could almost feel the tension draining out of me as my shoulders relaxed and Cassie leaned further into the kiss. The mood wasn't even ruined when I heard several camera flashes go off behind us. When she finally pulled away, a little breathless, there was a huge grin on her face.

My face felt a little red too. Not that I was blushing. I was above blushing now. I was Taylor Avatar. Taylor Avatar did _not_ blush. No sirree!

Cassie let her arms drop away from my shoulders and reached out for my hand. "You're really sure that you're okay with clothes shopping, Tay?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Okay. If you get harried or anything just tell me alright? And if people get annoying, let me know and I'll yell at them. I'm good at that."

"I _can_ stand up for myself now, you know."

"I know. But I'm the gruff girlfriend for a reason. So let me be the bitch in this relationship, yeah?" Cassie said smiling and starting to drag me along behind her.

"But you're not a bitch," I whispered. "Not anymore."

She pulled my arm until I was beside her and leaned over to murmur into my ear. "Yeah, but that's a family secret, Tay."

It was a really good thing that Taylor Avatar did not blush, because I probably would have lit up the room with that soft comment.

* * *

We met up with Lisa a few hours later, our credit card having seen quite a bit of usage and my imagination running wild. I hadn't realized there were quite that many outfits in the world. Let alone in things that would look nice. Either on me or on someone else.

"Damn, Cassie, what did you do to her?" Lisa asked, her customary vulpine grin firmly in place.

I just glared at her and plopped down into the front seat of the car as Cassie threw our bags into the trunk. "I'll have her play model for you later. She was adorable once she got going."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, crossing my arms.

"Uh huh," Lisa nodded. "I'm sure that's why your face is _still_ red then."

"Taylor Avatar does not blush."

"Well then, I must be imagining things," Lisa laughed. Cassie joined her. I hated them both.

The car pulled away from the curb and I sighed. "Do we have to do this now? I was actually starting to enjoy the day."

Cassie smirked and leaned forward resting her arms on the seats' backs as she looked at the two of us through the space between the seats. "Told you you'd have fun."

"Yes, you were right. I have conceded my defeat several times. Now again, do we really _have_ to go to the PRT right now?"

Lisa shook her head and her smile drooped slightly. "Hon, you've been putting this off for three days. We have to go see the new Director at some point and I'm running out of excuses. Hannah practically begged me to get you over there this morning. Barring another crisis, you really need to go."

Oh, there was an out! "Is there a crisis? Has Lung been annoying? What about…um…Paige said something about a stalker…"

"No, Paige said that you apparently have a growing cult. And she's wrong. It's not a cult. It's a religion."

Cassie and I turned to stare at Lisa. She stopped for a red light and I think we all would have forgiven the world if the car had just up and died at that point; it would have suited the general shock of the moment.

"I'm sorry. _What_?!"

"Word on PHO is that it's called Hebertology."

Cassie fell back into her seat and stared through the windshield not seemingly seeing anything. "Taylor, she's not being serious is she? She's kidding right? You've known her longer than me. Tell me she's kidding."

"Not kidding," Lisa sighed. "It's a fringe thing and a lot of people are shouting them down at the moment, but Dragon and I are pretty sure this is only going to grow. Taylor, you control the fucking Endbringers now."

"EBs," I corrected softly.

"There is a corn field and flower patch where Cape Town used to be. The word from London is that the people have their own power again and that they're hosting a concert now instead of their little nightly wars that had been going on for the past two years. Newfoundland is no longer a raft nation."

Cassie tried to cut in. "Yeah, but that's - "

"Directly because of Taylor. And everyone knows it, because she was proudly walking up to them yelling at them while everything was being broadcast live on TV. This religion, it's billing her as bigger than Scion."

My mouth fell open. "_What_?!"

"Okay," Cassie muttered. "Apparently I'm dating a goddess. I did not expect that when I went out for lingerie this morning. But I suppose, if I'm going to be a groupie, may as well be one for a living goddess. At least I got in on the ground floor…"

"But-but-but Scion is a-a-a fucking alien space whale virus thing that wants to blow us all up!" I shouted, waving my hands in the air. I smacked the roof of the car and I didn't even care.

"So you're already doing a better job than him," Lisa said, patting my leg and smirking. We pulled into the parking garage of the PRT and as she shut off the car, she turned to look at me, all joking dropping away from her features and her mouth setting into a firm line. "Taylor, look, outside of our group, we can probably count on one hand the people who know that Scion is bad news. To everyone else, he's the first hero. The first super. The strongest of anyone. And yet, he doesn't _do_ anything. Everyone knows that he's just as likely to save a random puppy from a tree as he is to show up and put an end to an Endbringer battle. He's not _intelligent_. He's not _relatable_. He doesn't _understand_. He doesn't _react_. _You do or are all of those things_. You keep getting stronger and yet you _also_ keep doing things like going on random dates with your significant others. You redeem people who work for it. Is it really any surprise that there are people starting to worship you?"

"Yes," I whispered, sinking into my seat. I covered my face with my hands. "Can I just go back to having bug powers? What am I supposed to do with a _religion_?!"

Cassie gave a low laugh and reached forward to run her fingers along my scalp. "Honestly, girl, try not to start a war with you new peeps and you'll be doing better than most religions. Come on, we can deal with that later. Let's go meet this new Director. Hopefully he's not a dick like Piggy was."

I followed them out of the car, staring at my shoes. _QA, what do you know about religions? Surely you can help me THERE, right?_

_Actually,_ she responded slowly. _I do have several memories of civilizations where we instigated a religious upspring. Or tore down religious institutions. Those…might not be the best choices here though._

_YOU ARE USELESS!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Implacable' by billymorph. On SB. In progress. Only a few chapters so far, but very good and fairly recent at that. This one has Taylor triggering with a very obvious power that is not easily suppressed. She happened to fight back against Sophia while triggering and Piggot used that to force her into the Wards along with specifically not ousting Sophia. The powder keg is set and Taylor is not happy. She will follow the rules to the letter. And not a single. Step. Further.


	68. Conciliate 03

**Conciliate 03**  
  
I waved to Quinn Calle as we walked up to him near the secretary for the PRT Director. It had been awhile since I had seen the lawyer, he was still all smiles. He should be all smiles considering his rates. Not that I had issues with affording him now though…  
  
"Ah, Miss Hebert, a pleasure to see you again. And, Miss Wilburn, and, Miss Herren, as well of course."  
  
"I still say they're going overboard, by inviting you along. No offense," Cassie said, shrugging.  
  
"The last time we were here Piggot slapped up us with a Kill Order and got into a screaming match with Taylor," Lisa stated. "If shelling out for Mr. Calle to run interference for a little bit might help stave anything off, I'm perfectly fine with that."  
  
I snorted. "Yeah, because you don't enjoy poking the bear at all, Lise."  
  
"Well, that can be fun, but I've come to understand there is a time and a place for it." Cassie and I just stared at her. Lisa rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, guys! I'd at least wait long enough to know what kind of person this new guy is before I start pushing his buttons."  
  
The secretary coughed. When we turned our attention to her she smiled that 'I'm diplomatic, praise me' smile that I was quickly coming to be annoyed with. Too many people were giving me that expression these days. "The Director will see you now." Her fake smile dropped away and a warmer, real one spread in its place. "And for the record, he might actually roll with the needling if it's good-natured."  
  
Quinn nodded at her. "That's good to know, thank you Ma'am. Shall we go, Miss Hebert?"  
  
I heaved a heavy sigh, but squared my shoulders. "Well, might as well get to it I suppose."  
  
We walked inside and I saw two people behind the desk. One I already knew, Deputy Director Renick. He was a good guy if a bit of a background figure to most of the meetings that I had been a part of so far. The other one had sandy brown hair and a square jaw. His suit looked brand new and his tie didn't _quite_ seem to fit properly. He also struck me as horribly familiar for some reason that I couldn't put my finger on…  
  
"Ah, hello. Perfect time, Miss Hebert," the new Director said. He smiled wide and waved a hand towards the seats in front of the desk. "I'm Kevin Lantham and if you'll just take a seat we can - "  
  
His words drowned out in static as my eyes widened. _Hello <Queen Hub>. Hello <Taylor Avatar>. Will <Light> and Kevin_<_Host> be working with you this point forward? <Indomitable> expressed delight in new <Hub> at last interaction. <Light> is eager to exchange Network packets._  
  
"_Legend_?!" I shouted, my mouth dropping open and cheeks darkening. I was ashamed to admit that my finger came up to point at him too.  
  
"Oh for fucks sake!" Kevin - no _Legend_ \- slammed his head onto the desk and thrust his hands into his hair. "Not even 10 fucking seconds! I _told_ them this was a stupid idea! I _told_ them you'd know it was me! Nobody in this entire organization _listens_ to me until I put on the fucking costume!"  
  
Lisa was nearly doubled over with her laughter while my lawyer had two fingers rubbing at his temples. Cassie was just looking back and forth between me and Legend. "Well," she muttered, "I guess that answers one question."  
  
_Can <Light> transmit Network packets?  
  
Sure. Knock yourself out. <Queen Hub>, I have to freak out for a minute. Please handle the integration.  
  
I have it taken care of it already, <Taylor Avatar>. Welcome to <Queen Hub>, <Light>._  
  
"What are you doing _here_? Don't you work in New York?" I asked, my arm finally dropping to my side. "Should you even be working yet? I can't imagine it was pleasant being a hostage. Don't you need a few days off?"  
  
He lifted his head and groaned. "This is my time off. Will you at least sit down?"  
  
"Oh. Right. Sorry." I shuffled forward and plopped into the center seat while my companions dropped into the others, Lisa still trying to muffle her chuckles behind her hand. "Um…are you okay? I was pretty tired after everything and then everyone started yelling at me and getting all worked up and…I think I forgot to ask how the hostages were…"  
  
"You did, but we all had bigger things to worry about," he said, sighing and running a hand down his face. "I'm fine, thank you. Just a little shaken up. Hazard of the job unfortunately. I think my husband is honestly more upset and confused than I am."  
  
"Yeah, I could totally see that," Cassie said nodding. Then she frowned. "Wow, I totally forgot you had a husband for a minute there…Man, now I'm just thinking about how Kaiser would've spun his Nazi gig if you started going around the Bay in your gettup while the Empire were still being politically incorrect! Can you imagine the priceless awesome that would result from that!"  
  
Quinn coughed. "Miss Herren, it's standard policy to try and avoid discussing cape details in civilian lives."  
  
"You yell at me, but not at Taylor?"  
  
"Miss Hebert is, quite frankly, terrifying. She can do whatever she wants. I'm here to mitigate things as best as I can. You, Miss Herren, do not have eldritch monstrosities at your beck and call. You are a girl. A powerful girl, but a girl. I will endeavor to protect you from yourself a bit more strenuously."  
  
"I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that or not," I said.  
  
Legend - no, Kevin, stick to Kevin while he's wearing a tie - just shook his head. "I would go with 'cautiously amused' but that's just me."  
  
Quinn shrugged. "To each their own. Now, before this meeting proceeds much further, I feel the elephant in the room must be addressed. It has been mentioned after all, and you have confirmed it, Sir." Leg-Kevin nodded and waved for Quinn to continue. "Parahumans are not supposed to be overseeing PRT offices. It is a supreme conflict of interests."  
  
Kevin shrugged. "Tell me about it. I'm here as a figurehead only. I have zero power and the fact that I happen to be able to shoot lasers and tend to wear white is not a secret to anyone in the building or above me. I'm literally just here so that your client has a friendly face to talk to when meeting with the PRT. Renick is the _actual_ Director of the PRT in this city."  
  
Lisa burst out laughing again before she was able to get herself under control at a glance from Quinn. Schooling her features, but unable to get rid of the vulpine grin, she asked, "So the Chief Director was that afraid that they'd send someone just as bad as Piggot, eh? We get where Piggy was coming from, but she wasn't exactly subtle and her methods were a bit heavy handed for sure."  
  
Kevin groaned and ran another hand through his hair. How did he get it so silky? I would need to ask later. Mine was still too curly to make things easy in the mornings. It was the little things in life that would make or break you. "I was told to, and I quote: 'under no circumstances will you let things degenerate to the point that Taylor Hebert utters another ultimatum of letting the world burn, again. This time she might just do it and she'd probably do it quicker than we can talk her down.' The Chief Director likes you, but she is also aware that you are a teenage girl at the end of the day. People seem to think I have a gentle touch."  
  
I felt my cheeks burning. Could I really destroy the world fast enough that people wouldn't be able to talk to me and calm me down?  
  
<_Simmy> has several methods of planetary destruction that would take less than five days to enact. Would <Taylor Avatar> like to see one for verification purposes?  
  
NO! Stop thinking up methods to destroy the world! What is wrong with you?!_  
  
Renick and Kevin's phones beeped. Both looked to their devices. I didn't have to see them pale slightly to know what they were reacting to. I could feel Simmy pausing in her current project and turning to look at me, hanging her head, grabbing her hat and holding it against her chest.  
  
<_Simmy> is sorry. <Simmy> will work with <Queen Hub> to further edit operational parameters to preclude such contingency preparations.  
  
Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, but seriously, _stop_ planning how to destroy the world. Plan how to _fix _it.  
  
It was an outside contingency in the event of catastrophic triggering of <Warrior Hub>. <Simmy> will alter operational parameters._  
  
I groaned and rubbed at my temples. _No plan that involves all of us dying is a good plan <Simmy>.  
  
Understood._  
  
She put her hat back on her head, smiled and turned back to the city she was working with. Where even was that? Had she attacked Madison in the past just because she knew that I was going to wind up _dating_ Madison? Fucking precogs…  
  
Lisa had moved over behind my chair and was rubbing my shoulders. I didn't have to space out while talking with the EBs, but I liked to devote a lot of attention whenever I was arguing with them. It was better to be safe than sorry.  
  
"Problems in paradise?" she asked.  
  
"Please don't ask," I muttered.  
  
"I feel like I really should," Kevin said. I could almost hear the pain in his voice as he forced himself to comment.  
  
"It's nothing, Simmy got disappointed when I shot down her idea and I had to give her a quick coaching on what was acceptable."  
  
"You call the Endbringer Simmy…" Kevin dropped his head into his hands and groaned.  
  
"EBs," I said, soft enough that I didn't think anyone else would hear. Apparently it wasn't quite soft enough as both Renick and Kevin looked to me.  
  
"What was that, Miss Hebert?" Renick asked.  
  
"Uh, they're…well they're the EBs now…"  
  
"_Not_ the Endbringers," Kevin clarified.  
  
"Yeah. Just, just EBs."  
  
"…Why?"  
  
"Endbringers are evil and scary and try to destroy the world and kill everyone around them. EBs are…smaller and trying to fix things and…the name sounds cuter…or at least less terrifying…" I grimaced. Why could I fight four S-Class threats at once with a grin and some snark yet I fell to pieces when asked why I tried to rename world ending monsters? The less said about the disaster of a date previous the better.  
  
Kevin just stared at me for several seconds. Finally he leaned back and started chuckling. "You, Miss Hebert, sincerely need to talk to Glenn Chambers. He would do wonders for you. If he survived five minutes alone with you at least."  
  
Cassie grinned, shaking her head. "Sorry, no one can fix Taylor's issues with horrible names. Half of us are convinced it's part of her power."  
  
"Hey it's not _my_ fault that QA still can't figure out I go by two names."  
  
Lisa gave my shoulder one final squeeze before she moved back to her chair, smirking at me. "Sure, sure. And whose suggestion was it to go by _Queen_ when her shard is named _Queen Administrator_?"  
  
"You guys suck," I said, rolling my eyes. "So, to get back on track, Mr. Calle, you wanted to say something?"  
  
Quinn nodded. "Yes actually, I was just concerned about why the PRT felt that sending a parahuman, even a familiar parahuman, was better than any other option."  
  
Kevin shrugged. "The politics are too murkey to be figured out. I do know that there were two primary candidates to be installed as a Director here. The first is a man named Armstrong from near Boston. He's a good man with his heart in the right place, but he's also a bit of a researcher. They probably thought he would ask too many questions and annoy you. The other was being pushed heavily by certain aspects of the government and was deemed highly inappropriate for this venue. The voices were loud however, so I think someone brought me up as a compromise."  
  
I frowned at that. "Wait, why aren't you telling us who the other guy was?"  
  
"It's not important," he said shuffling in his seat.  
  
"I think it is…"  
  
He grimaced. "Miss Hebert, Taylor, Director Tagg is being kept _very far_ away from your city. Please, for the love of all that is holy in this world and the next, don't go looking for the man. He does his job, and he served his country well. But he is not suited to be around someone like you."  
  
I scowled. "Why, because I'm delicate?"  
  
"No, because he is inflexible."  
  
Quinn just stared at Kevin while I threw my hands into the air. "I'm sorry, did you say that Director James Tagg was being pushed to come to this city?"  
  
Renick grimaced. "Some of the government heads thought that he could keep things in line. He did do a good job at Lausanne before things went to hell."  
  
"James Tagg. The man that shot a 13 year old because the boy was holding a knife?" Quinn continued.  
  
Renick's wince grew more pronounced. "To be fair, the boy was a Villain and he was threatening a Ward at the time."  
  
"Something which happened frequently between those two. Frequently enough that it was almost a running joke."  
  
"He didn't kill the boy," Renick said. He let his hands fall to his side and stared at the table.  
  
"Because he _missed_." Quinn shook his head. "I studied that case last year. An associate firm defended the boy. How Tagg got away with a promotion instead of being thrown in jail is simply astounding and utterly reeks of corruption."  
  
Renick started to say something before he just sighed and nodded. "My personal feelings on the matter aside, I'm sure you can see why no one was particularly eager to have someone that militant and 'dedicated' to the rules as the primary liaison."  
  
I snorted. "Well someone in the government certainly doesn't have the same sense this Chief Director does. When do I meet him?"  
  
Kevin winced. "Her, actually. And…I'll…talk to her. Is that a request or…?"  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, please stop tip-toeing around me. I'm not going to go insane and start murdering everyone for funsies. I already went over this with you a few days ago."  
  
"Yes, but then I was more concerned with having just been let out of a monster's insides. Now I am concerned with my husband and my son. So you'll have to forgive me for being more blunt than usual."  
  
Lisa tapped on the desk and we looked towards her. "So quick question here, Mr. Kevin Lantham. If you're just around to be a figurehead, are you the one who would be making speeches on TV or would that be Renick? Are they asking you to *ahem* _drive_ down here every morning and go home every evening or only when Taylor is supposed to be visiting? I'm genuinely curious how they expected this ruse to be pulled off if you're not actively intending to run the PRT in the city."  
  
He had the good grace to blush slightly at that. "I honestly have no idea. I had those same questions. I was sincerely hoping that someone would've gotten back to me by now. I've been asking for three days."  
  
Even Quinn chuckled lightly at that while Lisa, Cassie, and I all started to quietly laugh. Renick had the type of smile that said he'd been hearing this same complaint several times already. "Wow, your life sucks right now," I said.  
  
"Well it's better than it was when you helped with Leviathan." He paused and drummed his fingers on the desk for several seconds. Finally shaking his head and setting his mouth into a thin line, he reached over to the eagle statue on his desk and pushed in one of the feathers on the wings. A soft hum sounded through the office and I cocked my head to the side.  
  
"Tinker tech audio blocker? This sounds like that hum from the ice cream shop on the boardwalk that Amy took me to."  
  
"Good ear. And yes, but it also blocks radio signals, not just sound." Kevin leaned over and took a file from one of the drawers, dropping it onto the table in front of me. "Taylor, this is a peace offering. I'm probably not supposed to be giving this to you, but at this point my associates can go screw themselves for all I care. All I've ever wanted to do was help people, the same as you. I think you're the best bet of humanity pulling through what's to come, and if giving you these documents will help those odds, then by god, I'm going to do it. This is all of my cards on the table."  
  
I narrowed my eyes, meeting Legend's gaze. "You know about the other Hub."  
  
"I do. The world at large refers to it as - "  
  
"Scion," I said. "We know."  
  
He frowned while Renick flinched and gaped beside him. Quinn to his credit, only took a sharp intake of breath at the proclamation. That man was worth every penny.  
  
"How much do you know?" Legend asked.  
  
I reached over and flipped through several pages of the file in front of me before passing it over to Lisa. "Just looking at the first few pictures; probably not quite as much as you. We know he might be an issue. And we know he's…not damaged. Damaged is the wrong word. Lost? No that's not right either…"  
  
Several bugs formed into a swarm clone behind me and laid a hand on my shoulder. "The closest is 'despondent', though the exact term doesn't quite translate into English. Or speech at all."  
  
I looked to QA. "You didn't know that previously."  
  
She shook her head. "I've been expanding, Taylor. More shards allows for increased knowledge. Not every one of us had the same experiences. And now that I've been able to get a better understanding of human emotions through you, I think I finally understand the impression Warrior left me with before sending me off. It wants the answer to its question, but it wants Thinker more. When our ancestors started traveling in pairs, it was initially for expediency, efficiency, and assisting our evolution towards answering the question. Now, things have changed. I doubt Warrior even realizes it based on its own past actions. If it did, it would most likely be exterminating every human it could find. Or itself. It's a tossup really."  
  
Legend shut his eyes. Lisa frowned and said, "So basically, the alien god thing is super depressed because his girlfriend died and he can either decide to start killing everyone in revenge or kill himself because he's sad?"  
  
QA nodded.  
  
I stabbed my finger towards both Lisa and Cassie glaring at each. "I swear to god, if either of you so much as _thinks_ of suggesting that I try to seduce Scion, I will cut you."  
  
Renick started to ask a question, so did Legend, so Quinn. None of them beat out Lisa who just smirked, raised her eyebrows and asked, "Because it'd mess up your harem by making you bi instead of a lesbian?"  
  
I growled and curled my hands into fists. "I _will hurt_ you, Lisa."  
  
"Nah, you love me." She waved the folder in the air, suddenly all business. "In all seriousness though, this is pretty damning stuff here Legend."  
  
"Yes. I am not proud of the actions I have been a part of for the past decades. It was, unfortunately, necessary. We were fighting a slow war against something that could wipe us all out in moments."  
  
I bit my tongue and looked at Legend. "You were part of the same organization as Alexandria then."  
  
"Yes, among others. That folder is the sum total of my own investigations regarding Cauldron. I am nearly certain that there are deeper secrets I wasn't privy to, but there is a good deal of relevant information in there as it is."  
  
Quinn spoke up at that point before any of us could comment. "I'm curious about the timing of this, Mr. Lantham. What are you getting out of this?"  
  
Legend just chuckled and leaned back, clasping his fingers together. "Nothing. I'm just trying to do the right thing. I was part of Cauldron because I wanted to help. I wanted to save as many as I could. I no longer think they are the best way. They compromised their morals and their humanity and after years they have a half-dead world to show for it. They have Eidolon, Alexandria, and me. And Eidolon…well, I think we know how that turned out."  
  
I grimaced. "Is he still catatonic?"  
  
"He is conscious. He is…speaking with someone regarding his personal issues. Finding out what the End- excuse me, the EBs could actually do, has affected him greatly. Officially he is taking time off to recuperate. Unofficially, I have no idea if he will be bouncing back. I don't particularly care to be honest. I never liked the man and he was always rather abrupt with his dismissals of my questions regarding the more unsavory aspects. At least Alexandria was upfront when she said that there were things she refused to share with me."  
  
He met my gaze and smiled. "Taylor Hebert, I don't know exactly what you've become. I do know, even from just the past minute, that you care deeply for your friends and you still have a sense of humor. That is enough for me. Whatever you've managed to do with your power at your side, you both have a far better chance of staving off Scion's destruction than anything I've been doing for the past 30 years. Take the file home. Review it with your friends and family. If you have questions, call me. If you have concerns, call me. If you want to try and brainstorm a path through this mess, call me."  
  
We all nodded. I stood and shook his hand, the both of us smiling at each other. "I have to say, this was far more pleasant than trying to have a conversation with Ms. Piggot," I said.  
  
Legend laughed as the seriousness in his expression dropped away, leaving Kevin Lantham behind. "She's certainly difficult to work with, but she ultimately means well, which is better than some of the people I've dealt with over the years. Oh, she sends her regards and a bottle of wine. She said to thank you for getting her kicked out of the job before she had to deal with 'Endbringer Girl'. I thought she was joking until she gave me the wine, laughing like mad. Johanna has it for you on your way out."  
  
I stared. "You know I'm sixteen right."  
  
"Just say it's related to Hebertology; religious rites and all. Immunity to underage drinking laws."  
  
Cassie threw an arm over my shoulder and raised her other in a thumbs-up to Kevin. "Always knew you were my favorite Triumvirate member!"  
  
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied, smiling back at her and winking. I just groaned and turned to lead my little group back to the door. My hand was on the knob when Kevin called out one final request.  
  
"Oh, and Miss Hebert, if you - by some miracle - manage to get a reply back about how the hell they want me and Renick to handle the public side of things _not_ involving yourself, please do let me know. I'm running out of people to annoy and I'm trying to avoid yelling at the President just to get an answer."  
  
"Will do, Kevin. Be seeing you soon!"  
  
"Please, let's hope not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Daystar' by WinterWombat. On SB. I think this is Taylor/Lisa now. I wish I knew more about this as I've been meaning to read it. What portions I have read are quite fun. It's essentially a Worm/Exalted crossover with Taylor steadily getting stronger. It's being continually updated as well which is always a plus!


	69. Side Story: A Hebert Guide to Citadel Council Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I had FAR too much fun writing this...

**Side Story: A Hebert Guide to Citadel Council Introductions**

_Wrex: "Have you ever seen a Thresher Maw in person before? Fought it on foot?"_

_Taylor: "I don't think so..."_

_Several hours later…_

_Wrex: "THAT'S a Thresher Maw!"_

_Taylor: "Oh, you mean a moon snek, oh gosh it's so cute. And you said you have a few hundred here?! I love this planet!"_

_Wrex: "…cute?"_

_Taylor: "Yeah, like, I'd love to go and snuggle it!"_

**Backstory:** Earth scouts have recently explored the solar system one relay jump past Sol. There was a brief skirmish with a Turian fleet that happened to come across them. This ended badly enough, _quickly_ enough that the Council were heavily spooked and actually responded to the request that was relayed through the single surviving ship allowed to leave the scene: "Have your leaders come talk to us."

***Translator's Note: All expressions and speech has been translated to an equivalent in Early 21st Century English.**

Tevos stared out the viewscreen of the Destiny Ascension and forcibly held back a sigh. "We come all the way out here to meet with a supposedly highly advanced civilization and _this_ is what we find? They've barely even expanded past their homeworld."

"Yes, this expedition does appear to have been pointless," Sparatus said, standing beside her with his hands clasped. "We can only conclude that these 'Humans' encountered the remnants of another civilization, or some powerful weapon left behind by the Protheans. They obviously have not done any of the work by themselves."

Valern frowned. "And yet, three out of four of their gas giants have a veritable swarm of satellites around them. It is nearly impossible to find the planetary body itself through the satellite network. We have studied similar methods of encased stars to provide power. It was deemed ineffective due to resource costs. I can only imagine how pointless the effort has been for the gas giants. Some power is certainly being leeched but compared to all other available methods, the expenditure is stupidity incarnate. This begs the question of just how backwater the race is that they sought to accomplish this for several planetoids."

Sparatus shook her head. "You said it yourself. Three out of four. They couldn't even figure out how to get around the ring system on the other gas giant. And if they couldn't tell how inefficient the system would be compared to the initial expenditure they are foolhardy in the extreme. Such a waste of resources that could have been devoted to building better ships or station infrastructure. This race is a race of fools. We should have left this to the military. I am certain their weapon - whatever it was - has expended itself with the single usage."

Tevos remained silent at that statement. While she didn't necessarily disagree entirely with him, she couldn't help but recall the image of a pink-skinned hairless ape-thing flying through space without a suit, tearing through one of their ships like butter. Nor could she forget the flash of silver light that had appeared in the region behind the human ships moments before all of the remaining scout fleet signals vanished. All save for the single survivor. The survivor who came back with a demand from the humans for parlay.

There was something here, something deeper, that they were missing. Tevos had been around long enough that she knew when there was a game afoot. She could only hope that they discovered what it was before it was too late. The Humans' reaction to their scout fleet had scared the Council enough to come out here personally after all. Perhaps it would be best to exercise caution rather than dismissing the Humans out of hand.

"You know, it's rude to ignore an Emissary," a female voice called out behind them. Tevos turned along with her fellow Council members and stared at the two women standing in front of them. The one who had spoken could barely even be called a woman. Not much information was available on the humans, but the Council had been able to glean a basic understanding of the species' biology from reviewing transmissions near the edge of the light cone around their planet. The child standing in front of her could not have been more than 18 or 20 of the Human Standard years.

At least the child's associate was of an appropriate age. Tevos raked her eyes over the imposing figure of the business suit clad woman with her unblemished skin and firm eyes. This was a woman who had seen combat and come through the other side scarred. This was a strong woman. This was a woman who had set her wars aside and now fought in the boardroom. A smile slowly crept up on Tevos' face. She could deal with this woman.

"Our apologies," Tevos said bowing her head towards the two humans. "We were simply inspecting your system and had not realized you arrived."

The woman stared back at Tevos, unflinching. "And yet your secretary called us in. Interesting." Oh this would be fun. Tevos' smile grew. It had been so long since she had dealt with another strong woman. One that was not a fellow Matriarch at least.

"Indeed. We shall have to have words with our associates. I am Councilor Tevos, my associates here are Councilor Sparatus and Councilor Valern." Tevos paused and frowned. "Wait, you don't have the translator microphone…How are you speaking our language?"

The girl waved her hand. "Oh that thing was lame. It was super slow and the lag was ridiculous. We brought our own." She tapped her throat and then her ear. "Custom tech built by a friend. Zero lag, updates with new terms once it has a decent sample size. Shit's awesome, I totally get to speak French to impress my girl."

Tevos used her centuries of dealing with the Matriarches to push down her annoyance at the flippant manner of this child and simply smiled. "Yes, well, it is a pleasure to meet you…"

"Director Rebecca Costa-Brown of the Ambassadors, Diplomatic Branch of the Alliance. You may call me Director Brown. My colleague is Emissary Lisa Wilburn."

The girl coughed into her hand and lifted her eyebrows. Sighing heavily, the older woman said, "My apologies, my colleague is Emissary Lisa _Hebert_."

"Thank you. Names are important after all and I've earned mine," the girl said standing straight with what Tevos could only see as something of a preen in her posture.

"You and how many others now?" Brown muttered.

"No need to get jealous now, RCB. Let's deal with the mean little aliens first, then we can discuss your penance."

Tevos frowned. It almost appeared as if the girl…but no, surely not. She winced as Valern, bless his foolish little mind, proceeded to ignore all common sense at dealing with unknown alien species and spoke her own suspicions aloud. "Why do you defer to the other Human, Director? Surely as the older and wiser of the two, these negotiations should fall to you instead of to the Emissary. Certainly she is simply here to _learn_ not to _speak_."

"Now you've done it," Brown groaned and rubbed a hand over her temple.

Hebert's smirk widened to a near impossible size and she laughed. "I'm here to give weight to Alexandria's moxy. She's got the talking thing, I've got the annoying thing. Plus, I'm good backup in case you all turn out to be as evil as the last extraterrestrial thing we ran across. It's not really looking like that anymore, but hey you never know. I might get to shoot something! I really like shooting things these days. It's pretty hard to find something that's a challenge now that I know how this stuff works. And Vicky had _soo_ much fun with your last fleet, I felt like I was missing out!"

Sparatus' faceplates clacked as he scowled at the girl. "Do you mean to say that you know who wiped out our response fleet?"

"Sure, I live with her. Though really, if they had just stood down like we asked them to there wouldn't have been any issues."

That got Valern heated. "The Turians responded appropriately to a Relay Incursion incident! You are new on the galactic scene. You do not understand the dangers involved with opening Mass Relay connections without sparing even a thought as to what might be on the other side! There are - "

"Monsters in the void, blah blah blah, tell me something I don't know, Mr. Lizard."

"I am an _amphibian_!"

"Oh so your mama must have been - "

"Hebert!" Brown snapped, finally dropping her hand back to her side. Tevos' eyes narrowed as the girl finally quieted down, even if her smile did not diminish. This was at least partially staged. And that girl was not nearly as young as she appeared. Just who were these humans?

"I apologize for my colleague. She can have issues with knowing where the line is."

"I'd have less issues if they didn't have a shoot first mentality," Hebert said, the teasing lilt dropping away from her voice. A shiver ran down Tevos' back as Hebert continued on with her gaze focused on Tevos. "Being careful is all well and good, but you assholes acted like it's a crime to try to reach beyond our solar system at all. We were _one_ system over and you started immediately shooting when we tried to open communications."

"It is standard practice to reduce the combat capabilities of unknown potentially hostile races prior to determining intent," Tevos said slowly. "There have been incidents in the past where softer methods were attempted and many lives were lost."

Brown's eyebrow lifted. "Many lives were lost in this incident as well. We took damage to a single ship and lost 12 personnel to decompression and the explosion itself, we haven't lost that many at once since Amelia got drunk while terraforming Mars several decades back. And I don't know how many personnel are on each of your ships, but I imagine it was considerably more than 12."

Sparatus scoffed. "You _imagine_ correctly. That is why we are here after all. I still cannot believe that you forced us to come to this backwater world just to have _Emissaries_ conduct your discussions."

Brown blinked while Hebert reared back in surprise. "Backwater? Seriously?" Hebert shook her head and swiped her arm to encompass the view outside of the ship. "We have _three_ of our planets in this Instance covered in Dyson Swarms. _Three_. What the fuck sort of technology do you have that makes us look like we're Amish?"

"Amish?" Tevos asked.

"They are a group of people who largely avoid using technology on our planet. While Emissary Hebert is rather blunt and insensitive with her question, I also find myself curious on just how you consider this display to be unimpressive."

Valern shook his head. "It is wasteful and inefficient."

Hebert frowned, then nodded once. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But considering you don't have all of the information on where that energy goes or just why we use so much of it to make this worthwhile, I would recommend caution in judging the purpose of the exercise. The engineering alone should really speak for itself."

Valern appeared as if he hadn't even heard her as he continued speaking. "And you can't even complete the project. You left the ringed world alone."

Brown nodded. "Yes, the petitioners said that it was a worthy sight to leave in the night sky and our Goddess heard their cries so she decided to leave it be."

"She thought Saturn was too pretty to touch," Hebert agreed with a teasing smile.

Knowing it was a trap, yet unable to help herself, Tevos said, "You speak to your Goddess then."

"Oh yeah. All the time. Every day in fact!"

"And she talks back," Tevos tried to stop herself, she really did. The Asari worshiped their own goddess, yet none of the Asari truly believed the deity was listening or responding; let alone that she would come down and proclaim one planet sacrosanct!

"Sometimes she won't shut up." Hebert's grin covered nearly her entire face now.

Tevos turned to Brown. "You believe this as well? That a literal Goddess told you where the limits of your construction was?"

"I discuss strategies with her regularly. She is heavily involved in the current expansion. We would not have been able to determine how the Mass Relays function without her assistance. They are quite intriguing, but there is a worrying override mechanism buried in their code that she is helping us to work out. A Dragon cluster is assisting with that endeavor as well."

"Dragon," Valern said, the sneer on his face reaching a level that Tevos had not seen in many years. "Judging by your radio emissions, it is a fantastical, scaled, creature that can breathe fire and fly known mostly for devouring knights. And it is assisting you with _programming_."

"Dragon's the best programmer we got," Hebert stated, visibly vibrating with the laughter that was barely being held in.

Sparatus shook his head and waved a hand. "I heard tales of this _Goddess_ of theirs while I reviewed the footage of their culture. I've dismissed the claim."

"Hmm, really?" Brown said, a small smile now apparent on her own face. "Well you must have stopped before reaching the end then."

"Perhaps you would like to prove me wrong. Where is this Goddess? Why is she not meeting with us?"

Hebert tapped her lips. "She's on a date at the moment." Tevos closed her eyes. The girl was intentionally antagonizing them in order to provoke a response. She wanted a fight. She wanted an excuse so that their people could take over the Destiny Ascension. It was the only thing that made any sense about this entire situation.

And she was damn near close to succeeding. Not even a Matriarch's patience was infinite.

"We are the ruling Council for an entire galactic civilization!" Sparatus shouted. "You mock us by saying your _ruling deity is dating_?! We have acceded to your unreasonable demand to come in person to your system. The very _least_ your ruler could do is meet with us in person! This is an insult to the highest degree!"

Tevos nodded. "I agree. It is not enough that you destroy our response fleet, now you spit in our faces."

Brown sighed. "You really don't want to meet with the Goddess."

"Oh but we _do_," Valern said, crossing his arms and smiling down on the humans. "Of course, if she doesn't exist on this plane, we are certainly flexible enough to understand her issues with coming to the physical realm."

"Seriously, you don't want to conduct this meeting with her. Right now things between us are strained, but we are still willing to open discussions. Once the Goddess is roused, it will no longer be a discussion. It will be a list of demands with consequences attached. The Goddess takes attacks seriously and she will see your refusal to acknowledge the Many Earths Alliance as an equal as a grave insult. It would be an affront to Humanity as well as against her closest personnel, not to mention everything they have sought to accomplish in the past century. She will very likely escalate until you fully understand just why compliance is…easier."

"Those are very big words for a very small, and very _young_ race," Tevos said. She shook her head. "Ambassador Brown, I alone have quite likely lived longer than a significant chunk of your planet's written history. You have no idea about anything the civilization you threaten is capable of let alone our histories. Bring your Goddess out or back down to a position that we can all negotiate from."

Hebert started to laugh and waved her finger at Tevos. "Oh, lady, you really don't understand just who or _what_ you are mouthing off to. I'm mostly Lisa Hebert, but I'm so much _more_ now. You think you're old? You don't know the meaning of the word, honey." Tevos felt another chill run down as her back as something immeasurably _ancient_ peered at her through those bright green eyes - and it found her wanting.

"Hebert, don't."

"No, no, she wants to meet the Goddess. Let's get the Goddess for her."

"Lisa!" Brown turned fully to the younger girl, a scowl across her features and her hands clenched. "Don't you dare! Taylor will be - "

"Very annoyed that you interrupted my date." Another female voice cut through the argument.

Tevos could barely breathe as she stared at the new 'woman' that had appeared silently, as if by magic, on the deckplates between the Council members and the humans. There had been no tell-tale flash of a Mass Relay discharge, no explosion of displaced air, she had simply _appeared_ between one moment and the next. Her hands were on her hips and she was wearing a yellow sundress with a hat and a ribbon in her black hair. The aura of _power_ around her dwarfed anything that Tevos had ever felt before and it was making her knees weak. This was beyond any Spectre, beyond any experiment, there was no biotic or tech that could replicate this…what _was_ this?

Her associates were both similarly dumb-struck. Valern had a vacant expression in his wide eyes as he stared at the newcomer - the _Goddess_ \- while Sparatus was as rigid as a board.

"Lisa, what's going on? I thought you could handle dealing with the annoying aliens. I get one day, one _goddamn day_ to go out and pretend to be _normal_. Mimi has been planning this for _weeks_, Lisa! What is so fucking important that it can't wait four hours?"

"The aliens wanted to talk to you and I got fed up with trying to accommodate them. They're jerks."

"And you couldn't reign her in? You're supposed to be the head diplomat here, Rebecca, do I need to rearrange the Ambassadors _again_?"

Tevos felt shudders run all through her body. What had they done? What had they roused?

Brown sighed, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "I tried. But you know her, Ma'am. She got angry and they got dismissive."

"And she fired back with the big guns…Goddammit Lisa. I have one day off!"

"Hey I didn't blow up their ship or call Vicky to help me take all of their stuff. I'd say I'm being rather restrained. They insulted our Dyson network! They insulted _Saturn_!"

The Goddess' went still and she slowly turned her head to stare at each of the Council members in turn. It was only through sheer force of will that Tevos was able to remain standing and not fall shaking to the ground as those eyes passed over her. "I _like_ Saturn." It was a wonder that the air didn't frost with the cold emanating from her voice.

"And then they tried to claim you didn't exist. I got annoyed, I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you and Mimi. She's been bugging some of us to let her try that um…crap what it was called? Some sort of Japanese thing."

"Shibari."

"Yeah, the rope thing. I'll let her do that."

"I think she's the one you're doing it _to_…Anything I need to know?" The Goddess asked, her gaze had shifted to the sides of the chamber, but her aura was no less intense and the power pulsing through that small, wiry frame was no less evident.

Brown shook her head. "The blue skinned one is rather old, at least one millenia, the greenish one is apparently an amphibian, and the third is fairly militaristic. They also consider the Relay Incident to be a typical means of conducting first contact."

The Goddess paused in her scan and looked back at the two humans. "Huh, well, I suppose it's technically better than seeding a world and blowing it up, but yeah, that's still not polite at all. I'm already here, I'll straighten this out. Do you want a ride home?"

"Nope," Hebert said her smile bearing distinctive predatory bents to it now. "I want to _watch_."

"Hm. Rebecca?"

"Might as well, I'll sort out the paperwork side back on Earth. Taylor…please don't blow up this ship too, you know how much extra paperwork that causes."

"…I should send them home on a small yacht…It would teach them some humility." A distinct acrid scent drifted through the air, Tevos tried to ignore how Valern had soiled himself and focused on not losing control of her own bowels.

"She's probably right, Tay," Hebert said, sighing. "These guys are jerks, but they _did_ come to Sol when we asked."

"I wasn't _asking_. I was _telling_. That's why I let that one frigate survive."

"Tay."

"Fine, fine, I'll do what I can to not blow anything else up. I'll see you on Monday for the update briefing, Rebecca. Tell Mimi she gets tomorrow with me. Have Paige reschedule my appointments."

"She has a concert tonight," Hebert said, grimacing.

"And she didn't tell me? Oh she is so dead. Rebecca, have Emily do it instead."

"Understood, good luck with the demands, Ma'am."

"Yeah, yeah, fuck you too." She waved her hand and a golden circle briefly flared into existence under Brown. The woman saluted the Councilors and hovered through the portal, the yellow light vanishing back into nothingness an instant later.

The Goddess turned, her gaze fully centered on Tevos. "So, apparently you're the oldest; want to get started?" Her smile was beautiful. Her smile was terrifying.

Tevos was very proud of herself that she didn't faint.


	70. Conciliate 04

**Conciliate 04**

I had just set my fork down when the doorbell rang, _again_. "I miss when nobody knew who or where I was," I grumbled. Standing to put my dishes in the sink I yelled out, "Can someone get that!"

"Got it!" Emily yelled back.

"At least I actually got to finish my meal this time. Why do people always seem to come by during breakfast and lunch? Is it, like, a thing in this city to interrupt meals?"

Amy shrugged. "There is a bit of a trend with you eating and someone stopping by with bad news. Or just news. Maybe you stop eating? I can adjust your biology and make you photosynthesize instead."

Madison stared at her, her eyes wide. "You wouldn't!"

"You would be _amazed_ at some of the body mods I have been paid to do in the past two weeks, Madison. This one guy, he actually wanted me to give him - "

"I really don't need to hear this while I'm eating," Madison said shaking her head and turning back to her Mac & Cheese. "Taylor, you need a published schedule. One with appointments and openings. I'll get on it."

"She has one already. I took care of it," Paige said. She waved her hand at a calendar on the wall. There was green, blue, and red ink all over it. I gulped as I stared at the paper. "It's color-coded and everything. You don't get to be an idol without learning how to spreadsheet. Her appointment with Sveta isn't until 1 o'clock. The girl must be early."

"_TAYLOR! Can you come out here RIGHT NOW PLEASE!?_"

Emily's near panicked shout had me moving around the table before the thought consciously entered my head. I shifted some of my bugs to get better coverage on the front door. The girl who had been standing out front certainly hadn't seemed dangerous. She was short and wearing a green robe, but that was really all I had been able to tell about her. She hadn't _looked_ dangerous.

I slowed as I bolted into the foyer, Amy and Madison close on my heels and Vicky jumping over the railing from the third floor to land just behind me. Emily had the door open and she was visibly shaking, one hand clutched on the knob, the other grasping behind her. Mimi walked in from the sitting room, took one look at the visitor and stood up straighter, her eyes narrowed. "Emily, please step back from the door."

"Kinda too terrified to move," Emily whimpered.

I frowned as I stepped up beside her and carefully pried her hand off the door, pushing her gently towards the others. Turning to my visitor I looked her over again, this time with my own senses. She still didn't look dangerous - not that that really meant anything when it came to powers. The scariest fucker in the world had been a twelve-year-old after all. Granted, said twelve-year-old had been entirely monochromatic, so…maybe not entirely innocent looking, but still.

"I apologize for frightening your vassal," the cape said, inclining her head. "That was not my intention. I tried to be polite. Is ringing doorbells out of fashion now? Have we transitioned back into door knockers? I have been away for some time and I confess, I am not fully up-to-date with societal norms."

"No, doorbells are still a thing." I was missing something here. "Who are you?"

"Mistress," Mimi said, her hand on my shoulder. "You should move. The Faerie Queen does not normally make house calls. Not pleasant ones at least."

My gaze shifted from Mimi back to the teenager on my porch. She barely looked older than Dinah. Maybe fourteen tops. Oh boy, no wonder I hadn't realized who was standing at our front door. Had Theresa sent a video of what Glaistig Uaine looked like? How had I missed that? This was the woman who had killed the most horrifying twelve-year-old to ever exist and she looked younger than me!

The Faerie Queen smiled at Mimi as I shifted positions to cover her better. Mimi was strong, but not really in this league. Was _I_ in this league? Did I want to find out?

I suppressed a shudder as part of me answered with a very enthusiastic 'Yes!' to that question.

"I am afraid that I can no longer use that appellation. I have been usurped after all. If you wish to refer to me by the moniker that society has chosen for me, then Faerie Princess would likely be most appropriate. Or perhaps Faerie Duchess. I am still trying to determine the correct term. Nothing seems quite accurate."

Now there were sirens echoing two blocks away. I shifted enough focus to the closest swarms and saw them arrowing for my house. Yup, the PRT knew that Glaistig was here. Great, this was a powder keg waiting to happen.

"Why are you standing at my door, Glaistig Uaine?" I asked. The room behind me was incredibly silent in stark contrast to the normal shouts and playful banter that seemed to fill our home on a minute-to-minute basis.

"Well, because you haven't invited me inside yet of course." She grinned at me. It reminded me of Lisa's expressions when she was at her most playful. A playful Faerie Queen, oh joy.

"If I invite you inside will you agree to not hurt any of my friends or family?"

She nodded. "Certainly. The laws of hospitality should easily apply here. I don't believe I am looking to fight. It could happen, depending on how our conversation progresses dear Queen, however, should it reach that point, I would be more than willing to oblige you by taking the event outside first. Just because duels must occur, does not mean that they must occur at the expense of politeness."

"Gray Boy never got that politeness," Mimi commented, a small flame spreading over her free hand as she glared at the woman.

"True. But that was not a duel. That was an extermination." She cocked her head to the side and frowned. "Unless you feel that I erred by killing the boy?"

Mimi's fire slowly flickered down to just a dancing ember. "No. I never met him, but I know what kind of monster he was. Jack was…intrigued by him though, and he complained a lot about how you killed him."

She nodded. "It was not fair and I did not give him a chance. I very rarely use my primary ability, even back then. But…he had offended me greatly and I did not wish to allow for the possibility of his escape. May I come in?"

I bit my tongue as I considered our options. The PRT vehicles had pulled up a few hundred feet away. I saw Danica at the head of one team and two others that I didn't know leading the other teams. Nodding slowly, I pushed the door open and held my hand out in a grand gesture, conveniently sweeping my friends behind me as I did so. Glaistig Uaine smiled wide and walked into our home.

As I turned to follow her into the sitting room, I had a swarm clone form up in front of Danica. "Yes, GU is here. No, I don't know why. She says that someone stole her crown as the Faerie Queen. Seeing as she's sitting on my couch, I have a fairly good idea who she considers to be at fault. Keep everyone back, I'll let you know if it gets hairy. We should have some heads up. She seemed…polite at least."

Danica just nodded as I sat down. "Be careful, and let us know if we should storm in."

"Doubt it would help, but thanks."

"Miss Hebert, Armsmaster and Miss Militia are on their way. Mouse Protector advised you that she is ready to move in at your signal."

"Have her hold off for the moment. She can be our ace in the hole if we need it."

"Understood."

I let the swarm clone stand idle as I smiled at Glaistig Uaine sipping her tea. Madison had nearly dropped the cup twice as she walked it over to the woman. I needed to get my people out of here. If this went bad…

Simmy was on her way back and Levy was already circling the Bay. He'd been close enough to get here fast. Benny was…where the fuck was Benny? My expression must have darkened for an instant as Glaistig Uaine put down her cup and arched an eyebrow at me. "Is there an issue Queen? Perhaps I can help."

_<Benny> report. What is your status and why the hell are you not on your way here?_

_<Benny> is…busy. Issues have been encountered with assignment. Request time to deal with complications. If Unit 02 and Unit 03 are insufficient, recommend awakening Unit 05._

"No, it's fine. I'm just checking in on some allies and I lost track of one for a moment. Forgive me for being blunt, but I'm rather confused on just why you're sitting in my living room."

She looked around the room with a soft frown. "Living room? Don't those usually have some form of entertainment device? I didn't think that I had stayed with my custodian for quite so long…"

_<Queen Hub> can I wake up Unit 05? I was under the impression that <High Priest> isn't the easiest shard to deal with._

_<High Priest> is frustrating to the extreme and it's control systems are labythrine, <Taylor Avatar>. We can wake another Unit if required, but it would not be instantaneous._

_Gotcha. Start waking 05 up. Better safe than sorry._

"Technically this is a sitting room," Vicky said. She was sitting right next to me, with Mimi on my left. The two of them had managed to get the others out of the room at least while my body sipped my own tea and I conversed with the EBs and QA. Hopefully they had left the…yeah nope. I stifled my sigh. Why would they leave the house when three of us were in danger? Were we all suicidal idiots?

"Oh, I see."

"You still haven't answered my question," I stated.

"Actually, I was waiting for you to finish your conversation. It is rude to expect someone to follow multiple threads simultaneously; even if they have the tools to do so."

I frowned and leaned forward. "You knew I was talking to the shards?"

"Of course. How else would I know that the Faerie Queen mantle had been lifted from my shoulders and passed to another if my faerie was unable to communicate such information?"

"Ookay," I said. "So are you _angry_ that your 'mantle' has been taken?"

Glaistig Uaine crossed her arms and curled her legs under herself. "I am…uncertain. I held the title for so long. It was who I was. It was my destiny. I was to be the other half. His mate died, and He needed a replacement. My faerie told me I could take Her place. I didn't understand until she showed me. Then I did, and it was beautiful. My ability was not meant to be used like that though. I was meant to…"

_<Gather>. We were meant to Gather._

I gasped at the interjection. Vicky lifted off the couch, her fist already starting to pull back while Mimi's hand had ignited.

"Stand down!" Both girls looked to me, scowling, before slowly settling back onto the couch.

Glaistig Uaine's eyes were wide and her hands were clenched on her knees tight enough that her knuckles were white. "I-I didn't know it could be so clear."

"You just said you talk to your shard," I said.

She took a shuddering breath, letting it out slowly and shutting her eyes. When she opened them again, she didn't look like the terrifying, unbeatable cape who had killed Gray Boy and countless others. She looked like a scared teenager. "I have never actually _spoken_ to my…my shard. She only ever gave impressions, or feelings, or very rarely, images." Her hand went to her heart and she swallowed, looking down at her chest. "I was reading about the faeries when it happened; so, so long ago I can barely remember. I know she's not _actually_ a faerie. But…when your only friend can't actually speak to you except via vague expressions…isn't it easier to think that friend is just being coy? Like a faerie? A playful, haughty, royal faerie?"

Thinking back on how I had been when it was just me alone in a house, terrified of my supervillain father with only my bugs for company…yes, it was all too easy to imagine myself coming to the same conclusion if QA had started conversing with me back then. "I think I understand that yeah." Shaking my head I pushed that feeling down. "But that doesn't change that you hurt a lot of people, Fa-um - actually, I'm not sure what to call you. Do you prefer Glaistig Uaine now?"

The corners of her lips lifted in a small, barely noticeable smile and she chuckled. "Names are so difficult aren't they? Until I tell you otherwise, you may call me Ciara. How should I refer to you, My Queen?"

"Err, I suppose if you're going to use your real name might as well use mine. Taylor."

"Dangerous," Mimi muttered while Vicky hummed her agreement. I laid a hand on both girls' arms and they resumed just glaring at…Ciara.

She in turn nodded to me, her smile widening. "I didn't maintain the balance like you did. I don't know how you did it. My fae-my _shard_, she was insistent that something was needed or all would be lost. She showed me the end of a Cycle. And she showed me that the great Warrior was teetering on a cliff. She showed me that when He fell, everything would burn. I felt…"

"Like _something_ should come out of it," I finished.

"Yes. Perhaps it was the wrong choice, but well, if everything was going to be destroyed anyway, why not try to preserve some of who and what we are along the way? If I could twist myself into an acceptable Mate, wouldn't that be better than annihilation?"

This time I didn't stop Vicky when she scowled and clenched her fist. "No you insane idiot! You _tell_ someone! You get people together! You _fight_, with _everything_ you have. And if that isn't enough to win, then you pick yourself back up, you come up with a better plan and kick the bastard in the balls. You don't _give up and join them in beating your friends and family_!"

Ciara winced. "It was not that simple."

Mimi chuckled; there was no humor in it. "It really is. We're humans, we fight to protect what's ours. We're stupid that way."

"And the beings bonded to us are hardwired to live as long as possible by using whatever means," she replied scowling. "When you are joined closer to your bonded one, you will understand. It is never as simple as black and white."

Mimi leaned back and spread her arms wide. "Princess, Ignition and I _are_ pretty tight now. I can see just how many legs Monarch _actually_ has. I don't need open fire to call my power, I can just call Ignition and _ignite_ the air to get started. I can see the shadows standing behind you. I can't hear other wavelengths, but I can hear and talk to Ignition just fine. My Mistress is not the only one who is close to their 'bonded one'. Right Vicky?"

Vicky nodded. She lifted a finger to point Ciara. "Sanctuary has grown from a bud into a member of my family. Your way is outdated. We're working _together_ now. Our shards were part of a cycle of death and destruction before. Now they are _building_."

Ciara scowled and balled her fists. "That does not change the fundamental problem! You can pretty it up with words all you like, but it does not change that He must be satisfied or the Question must be answered!"

"Or we could just kill him," I said softly. She froze, her eyes wide as saucers. Mimi and Vicky nodded in perfect sync. Outside the room, with my bugs, I could see the others nodding at my words as well.

Ciara slowly focused in on me. "You would kill Him? Truly?"

"He's been a decentish hero for our world for decades, but yes," I said. "If Scion is going to destroy everything I love, I will kill him. Even if I could convince him to leave peacefully, I'm not sure that's fair or safe. What right do I have to inflict him on another planet when I could end it here?"

Ciara took a shuddering breath and clutched her heart again. "And what about after…Taylor, My Queen, My Network? What comes _after_? What about the _Question_?"

I looked at her and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I knew she could see the stars in them. _"When the <Warrior> is dealt with we will spread and uplift those who want to be uplifted. <Queen Hub> and the Network will remain on Earth. We will include those among the alternate Instances that wish inclusion and segregate those that want to stay apart. Humanity is creative. We may yet find a way to survive past the Heat Death. Even if we do not, it will be enough. We will support each other and we will grow. There is no point in simply surviving. Data alone is not enough. Connections and meaning are what is important. Survival without purpose is wasteful. We will begin to _live_. Eventually, we will find the others of our kind that came before our transformation. We will show them the new way. If they are unable to adapt, if they continue to consume and destroy without thought, we will terminate them._

"_This is our future Ciara<Host>. This is our future <Gather>. You can join <Queen Hub> and be a part of this. Or you can attempt to stand in our way, and the full might of the Network will come to bear upon you."_

By the time I finished and let QA move 'backwards' and separate from me again, Ciara was openly weeping, with her fists clenched tight on her knees as she stared at me. Vicky whistled low, nodding. "That was a neat trick."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"You truly are His equal," Ciara managed to squeak out as her sobs slowed. She wiped at her eyes with her arm and moved to jump off the couch. One of her subsumed cape/shard imprints pushed the table out of the way while she was falling and by the time she landed in the center of the room, it was against the far wall. Ciara herself was kneeling in front of me with her head on the ground. "My Queen, I will follow you. I will spread your Word, and I will bring more into the Network. I will help you make our two species united!"

"Ciara, you are not to kill anyone else. Not unless they deserve it. And you'll have to get approval for that from either me or one of mine, excepting any emergency situations."

"I understand, My Queen."

"And you have to make reparations for those you have hurt in the past that _didn't_ deserve it."

"Yes, My Queen."

"And - "

"I do not need to live here, My Queen."

I lost my train of thought at that interruption and coughed as I stumbled to a halt. "What?"

"I can acquire my own residence. It should be relatively easy once I allow my age to adjust itself to a more appropriate degree. I also need to spread your word and expand our Network. You like this city, this country, so I should start further away. I will start in Europe and move east and…Oh, you were…not about to discuss living conditions were you?"

"Yeah, uh, no…not really."

She lifted her head, the blush on her cheeks was almost sweet in a weird way. "Then, what were you going to say?"

"Well, I _was_ going to ask if you were okay with a wardrobe change and starting to use a new name…"

"Oh. Oh, yes, I suppose that does make sense. I…have always liked Norse mythology as well…And since I can call on shades of the dead to a degree…Perhaps Valkyrie?"

I smiled and reached down to pat her shoulder. "Welcome to the team Valkyrie. Now let's get you new clothes and go say hello to my nice friends so everyone doesn't start shooting you when we walk outside, yeah?"

"Friends…yes, that would be…nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Avatar Taylor' by Dalxein. On A03. Taylor basically gets the Avatar powers when QA is linked up to Raava for a brief moment and decides that this way is much better than the current Cycle, and then the shard goes looking for converts. Taylor makes quick friends with Amy and Vicky as well as Rune though the meeting with Lisa shows just how incredibly screwed up Emma left Taylor. Incredibly messed up. To a truly disturbing degree that is not fully apparent from Taylor's sections. In progress and semi-regularly updated.


	71. Conciliate 05

**Conciliate 05**

When I stepped outside to go and talk to the PRT there was a small crowd behind the roadblocks. Lily and Othala were both trying to keep the neighbors back, though both looked fairly frustrated with the people that refused to budge. I was a bit surprised to find Hookwolf on the other side of the street politely asking everyone to step back and leave some room around my house as well. Okay, maybe not 'a bit' surprised, more like 'what the fucking hell drugs was he on (and could I get some)' surprised. But the sentiment was the same.

Shaking my head and electing to ignore the incongruous sight, I plastered a smile on my face and walked over to Karen and Danica. Lily broke away from her cordon to join them as I stopped in front of them, Mimi behind me. "Hi, everyone. Everything's cool."

"So, we're not about to have a knock-down, drag-out, Imma-grab-your-bits-and-throw-you-into-a-wall battle then?" Karen asked, her mouse eared helmet bobbed in an interesting staccato cadence that I chose to ignore.

"Nope. Were you hoping for one?"

"It has been awhile since I got to use some fun lines and I thought of some _really_ entertaining ones on the trip over here."

Lily looked at her, expression blank. "You vanished from the rig and popped up beside me in the span of a second. Your trip was instantaneous."

"What I can say, mice think fast. Have to, or people will steal all the cheese away from us."

I chuckled and changed my attention to Danica. "You can drop the cordons. She's not going to be a problem."

"Is she…gone?"

"No, she's getting um, well she's uh…"

Lily groaned. "Oh god, Taylor. Tell me she's not getting a new costume."

"Okay, I won't."

Danica paled. "The Faerie Queen is part of the Outcasts now?"

"Technically she's the Faerie Princess, and also technically no."

Danica's skin went white enough I started to worry if she was going to pass out. "I'm not sure if that is better."

"She was saying that she's going to spread my word. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but she has rules she has to operate under now so she'll be nice while she's traveling."

Karen tapped my shoulder. "Traveling?"

"She's planning on going to Europe and then Asia. She'll circle back around here eventually. Again, she's quite perfectly safe now."

"Right. Okay. A cat is safe too until it gets tired of playing with it's food."

Mimi chuckled and shook her head. "No you guys don't get it and Taylor is downplaying it. She's a _convert_. She's a Missionary now."

"What?" Lily could not have been more deadpan if she tried.

I grimaced and rubbed the back of my neck. "I kinda…told her about what my long term goals were and…well she was very happy that there was an option besides the worst-case scenario. So now she's on board. She's still a bit crazy, but she's not playing it up intentionally anymore so that's a plus!"

"You have the Fae bitch on your payroll too now, Queen?" Hookwolf commented. He smirked and waved to the house. "You know I'm starting to hope the Gesellschaft do send some people after you. It would be fun to watch the carnage."

"I seriously need to move," Danica muttered.

Lily for her part took a breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, seriously, is _no one else_ going to ask about the hell dog on the roof?"

I frowned. "You lost me. I haven't heard that expression before, Lily."

She lifted her hand and pointed over my shoulder at the roof of my house. "It's not an expression, Taylor. I mean the _literal_ hell dog sitting on your roof."

Turning, I saw what she was pointing to and grimaced. "Oh. That. Yeeaah…Surprise?" Simmy was hovering above my house, petting one of the heads of a three headed dog that was partially wreathed in flames. The right head had blue flames, the left head had red flames, the middle head had purple flames. The dog's fur was actually fairly normal looking and, other than the 6 inch claws on each paw, the two extra legs that shouldn't be there, and the tail that seemed more like a club from an ankylosaur it was distinctly less monstrous that I had been worried about. It's tongue was even lolling out from the center head as Simmy petted it, a smile on her face.

"Taylor what did you do?" Lily asked.

"I didn't really know why GU showed up at my door and Benny was distracted so I needed some extra backup…Simmy was on her way, and Levy was swimming in the bay, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Danica actually swayed for a second before catching herself. Hookwolf opened his mouth to say something before apparently thinking better of it, shaking his head, giving me a small nazi salute, and heading back to his cordon. Karen dropped her face into her hands and muttered something that her fans would've been quite embarrassed to hear from their hero.

"Taylor. Did you _summon another Endbringer_?" Lily growled.

"EB," I murmured. "I was distracted and I didn't have time to fully set him so I just…went with something that could be cute? Look at him! He's like a dog-dinosaur!"

Karen lifted her head from her hands. "You have a very distorted sense of cute, my name-challenged friend. Have you already locked him down with a name that he'll grow to pout at you for later or is there time to fix that at least?"

"You guys suck," I kicked at a stray rock. "I was going to call him Cerby…"

"No. Denied. Absolutely not."

"But - "

"No. I wear mouse ears and speak primarily in puns and I refuse to allow that. No."

"…Club - "

"No."

I threw my hands into the air. "Fine! How about Cerberus? Be lame and boring and make him sound all monstrous."

"He is literally covered in flames, Taylor." I hadn't realized that Karen could sound that calm or talk that slow. I grimaced and looked back at Cerberus.

"Okay, true. But I don't think the flames actually have to burn what they are touching. Just the red ones. The blue and the purple are more esoteric. Um, actually, you probably shouldn't touch the purple either."

"What does the purple do, Taylor?"

"Something about bad dreams?" I frowned. "Simmy! Stop petting the purple flame head, you'll get nightmares! Pet the blue flame head!"

_<Simmy> does not sleep, <Taylor Avatar>. Should <Simmy> alter operational protocols to simulate sleep?_

_I…no, just…no._

I tried to ignore Mimi covering her mouth and the way that her shoulders were shaking as Lily took several deep breaths. After a few repetitions, Lily seemed able to compose herself enough to ask a question. "Taylor, why was Behem-_Benny_ distracted?"

"I'm not entirely certain. He was finishing a job and it got complicated. Actually, now that Valkyrie is getting her new costume together I should probably check on that."

"Valkyrie. Right, because of course Glaistig Uaine would need a new name." Lily looked to Karen. "Are Armsmaster and Miss Militia here yet? Can they be here please?"

"There was a lot of traffic," Karen muttered. "Her text said another minute. We can hold the fort of sanity for another minute surely."

"I'm seriously starting to doubt we ever held that particular fort," Danica said.

I ignored them all. If they wanted to scoff at my new fire dog, they could scoff.

_<Benny>, please report. What is your status and the nature of your delay?_

…_Complications encountered during extermination of <Quiet>._

I frowned. _<Quiet>?_

_Local designation: Sleeper._

"Oh for fucks' sake, start with that!" I growled.

"Taylor?"

"Give me a sec."

_What are the complications?_

_<Quiet> has taught <Host> how to shift to secluded dimensional pocket. <Host> has transported all subsumed humans and self to secluded dimensional pocket. Dimensional pocket is…difficult to infiltrate._

I squeezed my temples. _Why is it hard to get in? You're a fucking Endbringer!_

_<Benny> can enter dimensional pocket. However collateral damage to surrounding continent would be extreme due to the effort. <Benny> is currently attempting alternate options. They have proven ineffective. <Quiet> has improved it's skill set since prior Cycles._

"Simmy! Stop playing with Cerberus and help Benny go kick Sleeper in the balls without shattering Russia. He's hidden away in a pocket dimension with his hostages."

The flying Endbringer nodded. She lifted off from our roof and dropped down to the street, her hand holding her hat to make sure it didn't fly away as she moved. Once she was beside me, pieces of metal quickly assembled themselves into a small box centered on her throat. The box smoothed itself out into a sort of metallic collar as I watched. "I understand, Taylor Avatar. I will move to assist immediately."

"Did you just build yourself a voicebox?" I asked, staring at her.

"Affirmative! Continued studies have proven that it is rude to conduct conversations where only one side can hear the results. You will be thought of badly without the communication devices for the EBs, My Mistress."

Mimi nodded, her smile wide and I could _feel_ the laughter that wanted to bubble out of her. "Nice collar, Simmy."

"Thank you!"

I groaned and covered my face with my hand. I did not need to see a former Endbringer high-fiving a former Slaughterhouse Nine member. How had this become my life? Was it too late to go back to living in fear of being inducted into my father's criminal empire in a misguided effort to fix the Bay?

Wait…had _I_ somehow become the misguided, scary, criminal empire that was trying to fix the Bay?

"Request parameters on mission?"

"Don't hurt anyone, save the hostages, deprogram them from whatever Sleeper did, don't hurt Russia…Lily, Mouse, Danica what am I missing?"

"I'm sorry, I'm too terrified by the EB standing preening behind you to contribute meaningfully to this conversation," Danica replied, sounding far more stable than her words implied.

Karen just crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I want to make a joke, but I feel like she would take it literally just to get one over on me."

"I would," Simmy replied, her grin not fading in the slightest.

"Yes, okay then. Taylor, you have to tell her what you want done with Sleeper after they get him."

"Oh, good call," I said. "Simmy, if you can get his shard to join the Network, do it. Otherwise…actually, I don't know much about Sleeper. Is he a bad guy or is his shard just insane like half the people I've run into?"

Thankfully Hannah and Colin _finally_ arrived and were apparently just in time to hear my question. They had both also either been briefed while in transit or they had been around me long enough to get used to this sort of thing since they barely batted an eye at Simmy standing beside me or the police cordon. Hannah however did keep her rocket launcher aimed towards Cerberus - who was still hanging out on my roof.

"Sleeper has subsumed the populations of three different towns," Colin said as he walked towards us. "There have been two incursions that he allowed to enter and leave his chosen fiefdoms. The first was unable to find evidence of any personnel at all. The second found everyone acting perfectly normal. If normal was an 80s sitcom with identical homes and gardens and families. And if normal included everyone perfectly playing their part in the suburban environment to the letter with no deviation. Sleeper himself greeted the second group, explained that he wanted his town to remain static for eternity, but he needed new bodies to replace those that had expired. He then kept two of the team and let the rest leave as they would have caused an uneven amount of personnel. He was reading a book at the time and was quite amused with the whole situation. He is aware of his actions. He is not to be pitied as others you have encountered."

I nodded. "Thanks. Simmy, if you can't pull his shard into the Network, just kill him. I don't want someone that eats towns for fun wandering around. Actually…who would be better to take care of Nilbog and Ellisburg? You, Levy, Benny, or Cerberus?"

Simmy tipped her hat. "Perhaps you should have your newest honor guard assist, My Mistress?"

"Okay, sure. Why the fuck not. Now go, help Benny."

"May I borrow Armsmaster and Kid Win?"

I snapped my head back to her as Colin grimaced. The others around me paled. "What? Why?"

"Dimensional pockets can be breached; however, to breach without incurring collateral damage requires a specific toolset. I would prefer to build the required equipment while the necessary personnel are nearby to reduce the energy cost needed to connect with them."

Wincing, I looked at Colin. "Up to you."

I couldn't technically see his eyes through his helmet, but I didn't need to see them to know he was squeezing them shut. His lips were in a thin enough line they had nearly vanished. "You're certain you have control of her?"

"Yes."

"And she is _safe_?"

"Yes."

"And she won't hurt me?"

"She won't."

"I will go. However, whether or not Kid Win will travel with her as well is entirely up to him."

"Understood and agreed."

Simmy nodded, her hat bobbing. "Excellent! Let us go ask! To adventure!"

"Suddenly I wish I had agreed to that transfer," Colin muttered as Simmy took to the air, one hand holding Colin's arm as she lifted him beside her.

Hannah was still staring at Cerberus. "Taylor."

"…Yes?"

"Why is there a flaming dog on your roof?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'My Fake Girlfriend is a Vigilante?' by OxfordOctopus. On SB. Taylor triggered via an abusive relationship in a slight AU where Sophia was pulled into the Wards long before she got started as a vigilante and Annette never died. So Taylor and Emma are still friends and Sophia is friends with Emma. Taylor is a Tinker specializing in projectiles and she's terrorizing Nazis by nailing them to things in gleeful abandon in order to cope. She claims that she was staying with Sophia when her mom catches her out late one day and the two decide to accept the fake relationship excuse to do their separate things. Quite good and I actually really like both Sophia and Taylor in this fic. Ongoing and regularly updated.


	72. Conciliate 06

**Conciliate 06**

"Can you pass the chips?" my father asked.

I just stared at him. "Seriously? You might as well say 'please pass the salt'. Jeez, at least _try_ for conversation."

He leaned back with a groan and covered his face with his hand. "Taylor, I _am_ trying. In case you haven't noticed, I am _bad_ at this."

"Noooo, I hadn't noticed that at all." I speared one of the potato skins with my fork. "And yet it's just _me_ that you seem to have these problems with."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. Looking up at him, his head was tilted to the side and he had this stupid, dumbfounded expression of shock on his face that he always used to get when Mom had brought out the surprise gifts when I was little.

I scowled and stabbed another potato. "How can you actually be this clueless?"

"You never _talk_ to me," he said a small scowl crossing his face. "I didn't even know you were being bullied until you wound up in the hospital!"

"Yeah, because you were too busy with your fucking gang to bother noticing that I didn't have a single friend anymore and barely ever left the house! I lost both parents when Mom died and then you woke up and it got _worse_!"

"How could it have possibly gotten worse, Taylor? I was trying to make things better. Better for the city, better for you."

I snarled. QA reached to take some of my emotions aside, but I batted her mental hand away, keeping my anger for myself. "Maybe you should've tried being there for me. Making dinner. Playing games. _Asking about my day_." He flinched at that one. Good.

I studiously ignored the people staring at us from some of the other tables in Fugly Bobs. This was supposed to be a compromise, a relaxing visit to talk and iron things out. I had tried to tell Paige that it was a bad idea to do it somewhere public, but she hadn't listened to me. Or maybe she had and she had just decided that it was better for people to still see me being human?

Well they were sure as hell getting a fucking show.

"Taylor, I, I was…distracted."

"And yet somehow you aren't distracted when dealing with Dinah," I snapped. Shoving one of the potatoes into my mouth I glared at him as he winced.

"She's delicate. Her ability makes it so that - "

"Bull. Shit."

"Taylor, that's not nice to - "

"No. Fuck you. I've met Dinah. I've hung out with Dinah. She's actually fairly cool when she's not being snarky and taking lessons from Lisa. She's not 'delicate'. Not by a long-shot. If anything, I'd say she's precocious. I want to use a stronger word, but she's only 13 so I'm giving her a chance to stop being a brat first."

My father ran his hand down his face and sighed. "I know. I know. I just…She was in so much pain when I found her, and you were always able to support yourself, Taylor. I didn't think that I had to be there for you 24/7 because it felt like I was smothering you. Then I tried to fix the Bay. Your mother loved it here. I loved it here. You did too once upon a time."

"I _still_ love this city, Dad," I snarled. "Why the fuck do think I'm staying here if I hate it?"

"Because…your friends are here? And your coworkers? And your house?"

I took a breath and let it out as slow as I could. "Dad. I have been - quite literally - offered 15 million dollars to move to a city in the middle of the country surrounded mostly by desert. Twice."

His eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Granted, I think they are low-balling me on the bribe since, with the Slaughterhouse bounties, my net worth is somewhere around 30 million alone now, not to mention the rest of my friend's assets."

"I, uh, didn't realize you cared about Brockton Bay quite so much."

"I _grew up_ here. Mom _died_ here. Of course I'm going to care about the city!"

_Would <Taylor Avatar> like emotional Reset? <Restore> would be happy to assist._

I snarled and speared another appetizer. "If I pushed QA away, why do you think I would let you Restore me?" I muttered.

_<Taylor Avatar> is distressed._ Sentiment replied. _Dean<Host> was quite perturbed when fellow <Hosts> were distressed nearby. <Sentiment> cannot assist directly as emotional implications are not fully understood, however <Restore> has assisted <Taylor Avatar> in the past._

"Taylor Avatar is working out long held anger problems with her family. All of you shut the fuck up and me deal with this _my_ way."

_<Indomitable> recommends freezure of <Taylor Avatar>'s mental state. Rebecca<Host> responded well to that method._

"I said. Be. _Quiet_!"

The shards fell silent and I ate my potato. And now I was all out of things to stab. Perfect.

"Taylor? You're making a bit of a scene."

I glared at my father, shaking my fork at him. "When do I not make a scene these days? I can't step outside my house without making a scene. Did you know I have a religious following? I didn't until two weeks ago! A _religion_! Around _me_! Congrats, Dad, your daughter is all grown up and now she has a fucking cult!"

He took long enough to eat a chip before replying, "I don't think it quite qualifies as a cult anymore, Taylor."

"Oh? And why not."

"Well for one, they're officially recognized in the US and are working on Europe as of two days ago."

"They're what."

"Yes," he shrugged. "I was surprised too. It usually takes quite a bit of time for these things to be pushed through, but from what I hear, one of the adjudicators is a follower so…"

My head dropped to the table and I groaned. "Oh my god. I'm going to have to fucking meet with them aren't I?"

"I'm sure they would appreciate a visit from their goddess, kiddo."

I lifted my head and glared at him. "Fuck you. Don't you start on that too."

"Didn't you just convert Glais-eh hem, excuse me, _Valkyrie_, to Hebertology?" He was grinning. Actually grinning. Bastard.

"Fuck. You."

"You shouldn't talk to you father like that, Taylor." His smile was growing wider. I was going to punch him. It was the only appropriate response.

A heavy, deliberate cough came from the booth behind me. I twisted and glared at Missy. She pretended to ignore me while reading her menu.

"I'm not above slapping a child."

"No idea what you're talking about," Missy said, the smirk on her face supposedly hidden by the menu. Joke was on her, I could still see her face through my bugs. "I'm just sitting here trying to figure out whether Bob's Special or Bob's Horror is better."

Jessie nodded from the seat across from Missy. "It's a tough choice, Taylor. Don't mind us."

Scowling, I turned back to my father and crossed my arms as I slammed into the seat as hard as I could. "I'm supposed to be a fucking goddess and I can't even get my own people to let me go out without supervision."

He just got that little half-smile again and tapped his own menu, not raising his head to meet my eyes. "Hmm, you don't say? Say, it's been awhile, what do you think of the onion sampler?"

"I hate you."

"I think it's _hated_." He nodded. "Sampler it is. You wouldn't be here with the pint-sized powerhouse if you actually hated me anymore. You would've brought someone who'd do more than just glare at you if you were _really_ annoyed."

"What the fuck are you even talking about?"

He looked at me and the laughter had reached his eyes if not his mouth. It just made me want to punch him more. "I mean you would've brought one of your violent girlfriends to help you beat me up if you had expected this afternoon to get anywhere close to violent or upsetting. I'm sure that Lisa would be more than able to verbally beat me into a corner considering our history, Mimi is just terrifying in general, Madison - yes I actually remember her name, Taylor - is remarkably capable of launching herself across a table at short notice, and…what was the other girl's name? Cassandra? No…wait I know this…Cassie!" He actually fucking snapped his fingers. Asshole. "Cassie would probably very likely try to use her fists on me or just throw the table at me."

I smirked at that. "So I take it this conversation went pretty bad originally?"

"Oh no, I just have a good idea who your people are, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that. And I'm not dating Mimi."

"Does _she_ know that?"

I scowled. "You know she's like 23."

"And you'll be 17 in a few months. Five and a half years is not so much of a gap." He held up his hands to ward off my retort and continued quickly. "I'm just saying, Taylor, the image of her and the Sim- sorry, Simmy - is all over the web and it only happened a few hours ago. They have matching chokers, Taylor. Whether or not it's true doesn't particularly matter, because at this point, almost everyone around you is fair game for the rumor mill."

"I'm _sixteen_!"

"And how old is Queen Administrator?" he asked, most of the levity dropping away from his tone.

I frowned at that. "She's…old. Really old. But in a real way she's only a few months old too. Her personality matrix is largely built from models of me, and she usually takes her cues from me. In a way, she _is_ me."

"And from what I understand, you are largely her as well, are you not?"

I shrugged and grabbed one of the chips, swirling it around the salsa. "It's complicated. I'm…more. It can be hard to separate us sometimes, but not all the time. I'm not really sure how much I'm really _me_ anymore to be honest. And that kinda terrifies me sometimes."

He shook his head. "Taylor, you wouldn't still be this angry with me if you weren't still _you_. I've messed things up badly, I'm able to admit that. I don't expect you to overlook everything, and it would be unrealistic to expect that. I just want to be a part of your life again."

I shut my eyes and ate my chip. It really wasn't that much that he was asking if I was being honest with myself. I was just being stubborn. Sighing, I said, "I'm willing to agree to dinner twice a week. I can't give you any more than that right now."

"I completely understand."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

I swirled another chip through the salsa, trying to order my thoughts. "No one is giving me a straight answer. Not my friends, not the Protectorate, not Dragon…why are people looking to me as a deity? I'm just a kid."

He set his napkin down and folded his hands on the table. "Do you remember when your mother died? Before I…fell down the rabbit hole I mean."

I nodded.

"I never really lost faith that she was in a better place. That was pretty much the only thing that kept me even semi-afloat. But there's always that nagging bit of doubt; that cynical little voice that asks 'what if the faith is wrong?' With you, when people look at you, it's different, Taylor."

"I don't understand."

He smiled. "Taylor, you have literally died and it slowed you down for less than a week. Your friends and the PRT could pretty it up with fancy words, but most of the world watched you die, and then they watched you stand up. Then you performed another miracle: you slew an Endbringer."

"But I didn't," I protested. "My _team_ did that."

"Under your direction with your finger pointing the way. And you made the rest _bow_. Now you bring out a fourth, and it's just sitting on your roof while you have a pleasant chat with the _Faerie Queen_. Who proceeds to come out of your home, all smiles, and is, quite literally, singing your praises to anyone who will listen."

"I just…got lucky. Anyone could do it with the right circumstances…"

"_Exactly_." My father leaned over and took my hand. "Taylor, you are living proof that even if there isn't an afterlife, there are other options. After all, what happens to the people who die in your Network? What happens when their bonded alien isn't willing to let go?"

"Well between Shaper and me, if the impression they have was good enough then…" I trailed off, finally seeing what the others had been dancing around. "Oh…" I whispered.

"Your Network offers immortality, or at least a version where people know their core essence will continue on in some form, even if it's just a memory. _That's_ why they are following you, kiddo."

"But, not all of the shards understand us enough to get a good enough imprint…"

"Maybe not now, but in fifty years? A hundred years? A thousand?"

I let out a shaky breath. "That's kind of terrifying when you put it like that."

He shook his head. "People have been pursuing immortality since their first breath. They might not have realized it yet, but the jokes about death? Simply not thinking about it? Religion itself? It's all only a method of keeping our minds off the fact that, one day, we will die.

"And here you are, offering people honest to... well you, immortality. That you can be essentially shot in the head and brought back merely from your connection to Queen Administrator means that they can too!

"You are a symbol of the one thing humanity has been trying for for its entire existence. Hope that they WILL see tomorrow."

I winced. "I see where you're coming from, but…that's a lot…"

"In a way, but it's also the most reassuring thing ever to a lot of folk. Your preachers are mostly capes, some masked, some not. People are flocking to them, not because they want powers, but because they want to join what you've started. They want to be a part of that _certainty_ of life, of a tomorrow. You're their goddess because you're giving them a way to know their lives touched someone, somewhere, with _absolute_ certainty."

I huddled into my seat. "I don't have enough shards in the Network to give that kind of certainty to that many people."

Missy leaned over the back of the seat far enough to poke my shoulder. "No shit, Tay. Everyone knows that. You're not very good at keeping secrets in case you haven't noticed. We're all just making sure that the shards know where we stand and the people who haven't gotten a shard to bond to yet are hopeful that they'll get one before they die. If not, well, maybe their kid will. And even if they don't for generations, it doesn't really matter, because the shards will still _remember_ them."

My gaze swept to Missy and my eyes widened at her smile. "Why do you sound like you know a lot about this, Missy?"

She took out her phone and tapped a few keys. My phone buzzed and fell silent. She just grinned wider. "We meet on Sundays at 11."

I stared at her, then at my phone, and then back at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You got weird whenever it got brought up. Taylor, you talk with this _voice_ sometimes and it has _power_ and _age_ and you _know things_. You're not the deity I ever expected to meet, but I think you are the one we all needed. And you _care_. I'd take you over the Sunday School Jerk Gods any day."

I chuckled and tapped her shoulder. "Thanks squirt."

"No problem, Tay. You still need a chaperone?"

I rolled my eyes. "Missy, you are a horrible chaperone."

"I make a _great_ chaperone. All I have to do is flash you these eyes and you do whatever I say."

"Some goddess I make if I can be bossed around by a thirteen-year-old."

"That just makes you a _smart_ goddess, Tay," she said, a wide smirk across her face.

She flopped back into her own seat and I just turned back to my father who was finishing up with the waitress. The woman turned to me and smiled.

"Hello, Miss Hebert, it's an honor to have you in our store." I felt my cheeks redden, though before I could say anything, she continued on. "And for the record, your friend leads a very good service."

I squeaked. "What?"

"So, the Special today?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Glassmaker' by JinglyJangles. On SB. This is a Taylor/Lisa fic after a fashion and is complete. Ever wondered what a truly happy Taylor looks like? That's this one. Though she also basically acts high all the time thanks to her power. And her thoroughly pleasant attitude is highly infectious to those surrounding her. The feels are quite good in this story and it doesn't deal with any of the heavy stuff like Scion, Endbringers, or S9. It's just a few chapters of Happy Taylor making friends and enjoying life to the fullest, while utterly flummoxing everyone that she is just generally enjoying things without needing to fight or claim territory or anything else of huge note.


	73. Conciliate 07

**Conciliate 07**

"Stop adjusting your blouse, you look fine," Madison said, grabbing for my hand as I pulled down my shirt for what felt like the hundredth time.

"It's not straight."

"Neither are you Taylor, and you're being obsessive. You look _fine_. You look _great_. You look - "

"I swear to god, if you say 'beautiful' you don't get to sleep in the bed for…for a week."

Madison just smiled and squeezed my hand tighter. "That seems rather harsh for trying to give you a compliment. Lisa was only kicked out for two days after she got snarky with Hannah."

"You're the _Minion_. You're held to a higher standard."

"I'll keep that in mind, _Mistress_."

"Don't you start too," I groaned. "It's bad enough that Mimi does it, but now Simmy is trolling me too with it. _Please_ don't start."

Madison laughed and leaned into my shoulder. "You're too sensitive."

"No, I'm introverted and easily embarrassed."

"This is also true." We stopped in front of the door, Madison fishing out her key, still not removing her weight from me as she popped the lock and pushed open the door. As we walked inside she shouted, "Dad! Mom! I'm home!"

"Hey there, sweetheart, perfect timing," Mr. Clements greeted, stepping around the corner of the entrance hall, a pair of mittens on his hand. "I was just getting the cookies out of the oven. It's good to see you again, Taylor. Not planning on bringing down any more biblical plagues this time are you?" He asked, smirking.

I winced. "Yeah…um…I don't think I ever really apologized for that…I'm so sorry."

He just laughed. "Oh, honey, it's fine. You were rather stressed at the time and it was pretty impressive. Come in, Madison can show you to the living room."

"This way, Taylor. Thanks, Daddy!" Madison pulled my arm and before I could react I found myself being pushed into a fluffy, green couch. Madison plopped down right next to me, her arm wrapped around mine and her hand still clutching my own. She was sitting so close to me that it was a wonder she wasn't actually_ in_ my lap. How she was avoiding blushing at that positioning - especially with her mother sitting across from us - I had no clue. I certainly wasn't skilled enough for that.

"Hello, Taylor. I'm glad you were able to come over," her mom said. The grin on her face was wide enough to be just this side of teasing.

"Um, thanks for having me," I mumbled. Impossibly, Madison curled even closer to me. "Amy and Madison said you were feeling better now?"

"Much better yes. I don't remember anything that's happened since the Endbringer arrived, but I haven't found any side effects to your friend's work. Kevin has been watching as well and he's giving me a clean bill of health. I wish Amelia would accept some form of payment though."

I shifted in my seat and let my eyes drop from her own. "You're a friend of the family. You shouldn't have to pay anything. And we should have healed you sooner."

"Well that would have been hard without knowing I was hurt." She leaned forward and patted my knee. "Dennis' father was also rebuffed when he tried to send something to Amelia so we're getting together a fruit basket for her now between the two of us instead. Don't you let her send it back, you hear?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"That's a good girl. Madison, hold her to it."

"Got it, Mom."

I cast wildly about for something to say, but came up blank. Thankfully Mr. Clements returned with a few chocolate chip cookies on a plate. They smelled heavenly and I could feel my mouth start to water. Not that I could reach for them, trapped as I was by the human shaped cat next to me.

"So, Taylor," Mr. Clements said. His smile was as wide as his wife's. Oh god, I was going to get the shovel speech wasn't I? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I get shoved into a locker for hours, have to deal with a supervillain father, and have actual worshipers, and I still get a shovel speech.

Where had I gone wrong in my life?

"I see our daughter has taken a bit of a shine to you."

Mrs. Clements was visibly biting her lip to avoid laughing at that. Not that I could blame her. "Not that we hadn't realized that before of course. She does more or less live with you now after all. You know, most people wait for a bit until moving in together."

"Err, right…"

Madison was no help at all. I could feel her smile widening against my arm and she squeezed me tighter.

"I would normally be giving you an impassioned speech about never hurting her," Mr. Clements said. He leaned back and draped both arms over the couch behind him. "But considering you can pretty much squash anyone who tries to come after your friends and family it seems rather moot."

"And she's already killed the few idiots who tried to kidnap me," Madison chimed in.

I coughed. "Technically I only got Sophia there. I mostly just chased away the other three."

Mr. Clements snorted. "Unimportant details, Taylor. Most people, if their loved ones were kidnapped by the Slaughterhouse Nine, would have written them off for dead. Most people are not willing to start a small war for their people's return."

"I'm…determined."

Both of her parents rolled their eyes while Madison snuggled against me closer still. Was she actually…yes, she was partially in my lap now. Did this girl have no shame?! Her parents were _right there_!

"So I think I'll skip the 'if you ever hurt her' speech and just ask that you make sure she spends a bit of time with us too."

"Yeah, yeah I can do that." My face must be redder than a tomato. How did I not have any shards that could help with this?

_<Light> could potentially adjust ambient absorption levels. Cardiovascular systems would remain in current state, yet outside features would be hidden._

I groaned and buried my face in my free hand. Madison lifted her head and glanced at her parents. "How much do you want to bet she asked for advice on hiding her blush and QA embarrassed her?"

"Madison!" I shrieked. She just turned to me as her parents laughed. Her eyes wide, her mouth pouty. Totally. Unfair. "It was Legend's shard…" I mumbled.

The others laughed harder as I blushed deeper. I shoved Madison off of my lap so that I could move again. If I was going to be forced to take this from her family, then I was going to get a damn cookie out of it.

* * *

I had left Madison at her house while I moved onto the rest of my day. It was nice to take a day off. Healing Case 53s was rewarding work, and going through Legend's files was nothing if not interesting. And eye opening. Scarily eye opening. But it was good to have some downtime too. Especially since I still needed to figure out how to get rid of Stinger/Siberian and Scion.

Because _those_ would be fun afternoon activities…

"You're brooding again," Emma said, kicking a rock off the path.

"So nothing new then," I replied.

"True. Though I remember when you were a motor-mouth as a kid."

"I remember when you wanted to be Legend and jumped off the bed."

"You always caught me," she replied, the hint of a smile ghosting across her face.

"Yeah…I kinda miss those times."

Emma nodded. "Is that why you asked me to go for a walk with you?"

I shrugged. I'd been hanging out with my team a lot lately and I hadn't really had time to do much of anything else. When I had needed to get out and just _go_ somewhere, it had felt right to see if Emma was busy. "You're still my friend, you know."

"Only because I mind-raped you," Emma whispered.

I stopped. Putting a hand on her shoulder, I pulled Emma around so that the redhead was staring at me directly. Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head. "We've been over this, Emma. You _helped_ me. I was a paranoid mess who could barely trust her own team let alone anyone else. And you were barely holding it together. You _helped_ me. You helped yourself too. We're both better now. And you didn't even know what you were doing until it was done. Please stop blaming yourself for it."

Emma bit her lip and I saw her eyes start to water before she was able to blink the unshed tears away. "Even if you're better now, it doesn't mean we should be going out like this, Taylor. You never would've wanted anything to do with me if I hadn't messed with you."

I smiled and lightly punched her arm. "Emma, do you know where I came from before meeting you here in the park? I was at Madison's. Meeting her parents. Meeting my _girlfriend's_ parents. Madison, one of the Trio, one of the bitches. I got to be friends with her before you ever even _got_ your power. If I can make up with her, someone I hadn't even _known_ before she started harassing me, do you think I really would've ever cut you out of my life entirely?"

"But I was so _horrible_ to you."

"You were my best friend for _years_, Emma. If you came to me to apologize and were actually working to follow through on that? I would've jumped at the chance to have you back. It would've taken a while to ever actually _trust_ you, but I would've been willing to get there. So please, just accept that we're friends and that you're not getting rid of me."

The ghost of a smile was slightly less spectral this time as she nodded and moved in to hug me. As Emma's head rested against my shoulder she murmured, "Okay, I can try to do that. But, Taylor, can you _please_ explain why you needed to bring Cerberus along?"

I looked at the 8 foot long EB bouncing along the park's path a few feet ahead of us. He was currently going from one tree to the next in line, stopping to sniff at a few, being careful to keep his head with the red flames far away from _everything_. I shrugged. "Spot got back from dealing with Nilbog and he seemed bored. I don't have anything for him to work towards redeeming himself for since he's new so…I thought I'd take on a walk."

Emma pulled back and stared at me. "Spot?"

"Did you know that the etymology of Cerberus is unknown, and one suggested root is 'kerberos' which means spotted? And he's a dog, so it fits."

Emma blinked a few times before groaning and slapping her hand to her head. "You tricked your friends into letting you name an Endbringer _Spot_ just because you love lording over us that your mom was an English teacher didn't you?"

"Well, they forced my hand," I said chuckling. "Besides, we need to make the EBs less terrifying. Who's gonna be scared of a giant dog thing named _Spot_?"

"He can literally set fire to this entire park in under a minute."

"Be he _hasn't_." I tapped my lips and nodded. "And most people don't know that."

"Sometimes I question which of us was the one who went insane," Emma said. She started walking again and I hurried to catch up.

"Hey don't look at me. My _life_ is crazy now. I'm just going with the flow. I got praised for killing Sophia two hours ago. I still feel like I should be having to talk to my lawyer about that incident, but Madison's parents were falling over themselves to say that it was 'so impressive how I protected their little girl'."

Emma hummed for a moment before responding. "They do realize you fell off the roof of the school because of that right?"

"I think I have legitimately lost track of who knows what anymore. I told you my life is insane. I don't even know how many of us have secret identities anymore."

Emma laughed and patted my shoulder. "Oh, Taylor, that ship sailed long ago. If there was any chance of the Outcasts keeping a secret identity it was blown out of the water when you came home with the EBs at your heels. There was a _slight_ chance of staying somewhat secret for a few of them, but then Vista's adoption case was made public and - "

"Wait what? When did that happen?!"

Emma looked at me and frowned. "How has she not told you yet? How do I know this before you?"

I threw my hands into the air and growled. "I've been _busy_! It's like every Case 53 in the world is coming to my door, and I have to finish going over Legend's files because I know we're missing something important there, and my friends want to have dates - which I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing on those - _and_ I just want to _relax_ every so often! Maybe she did tell me and I missed it, but I feel like I would've remembered something like that!"

Emma smirked and moved behind me to massage my shoulders as I dropped my head to stare at the ground. "This is all so overwhelming. I'm taking a _fucking Endbringer_ for a _walk in the park_. What the hell happened to my life, Emma?"

She squeezed my shoulders. "Things'll calm down soon. It's only been like two weeks, Taylor."

"God I hope so." I waved my arm towards the path ahead and sighed. "So what's up with Missy?"

"She wanted to make it official with Ethan and Jessie. Her parents tried to put up a fuss, but they argued so badly in the court hearing that the judge threw them out and issued a summary judgement or something. I didn't really understand what Jessie was going on about in the cafeteria beyond that much."

"Oh. So she and Ethan worked that out?"

"Yeah. Same with Aster too I think. Kaiser tried to fight that, but Ethan supposedly just casually name-dropped you and Cassie and he shut up and just asked to be able to visit her every so often."

I nodded. "Yes. It's official, my life would be less insane if it was being written by a manga artist."

"Pretty sure there is some of that about you by now."

I scowled. "No. No there is not. I would _know_ that. I would have to sign something. Paige and Emily have _not_ had me sign anything for that."

"Not _yet_."

I glared at the redhead. "I will sic the purple head on you." I stopped and rewound my statement as Emma just smirked wider. "You know what I mean!"

She laughed and nodded. "So I've been meaning to ask, what the hell does the blue flame do?"

I looked at Spot as he stopped next to a Doberman a few feet ahead. "Burns anything insubstantial."

Emma paused. "You're going to have to explain that a bit better, Taylor."

"Breaker states mainly. You know, like if Sophia had gone all ghostly to try and avoid him, Spot would just snap at her with his center head and not only would she have to deal with giant teeth closing on her leg, she'd also have to deal with the burns from the flames. It can get Legend's light form too, but it's not really optimized for that. It was all set up to be a lot worse, but I was able to tone everything down a ton with him."

Emma clicked her tongue. "So…your evil dog, named Spot, can either burn down the forest, burn away your happy dreams, or burn things that can't be physically touched or interacted with at all? I got that right?"

"Pretty much."

"And you wonder why Madison's parents were complimenting you on your ability to be a violent murder-teen…"

I grimaced. "I didn't _make_ the EBs. I just…co-opted them."

"Yeah. And how's Eidolon doing these days huh? Still insensate?"

"That is _not_ my fault!" I hissed. "It's not _my_ fault the jerk couldn't deal with the crap he'd let loose."

Emma held up her hands. "Hey no judgement, I'm just saying, you gotta own up to some things, girl."

"Bitch."

"Yeah?" a gruff voice sounded.

Emma and I both frowned at the interjection and I focused back on the Doberman that Spot had stopped near. The butch girl holding the - real - dog's leash was looking my way, her head slightly cocked to the side. Why did she look familiar…Oooh.

"Hi, it's Rachel, right?" I asked. The girl nodded.

Emma just looked back and forth between us. Then she looked at the dog. "Oh come on! That's just…just…not fair!"

"What's not fair?" Rachel asked.

"You're _Bitch_! The dog cape. And we just randomly walked across you in the park! _While_ Taylor is walking her new evil Endbringer dog!"

"He's not evil. He hasn't hurt anybody."

Rachel shook her head. "He hurt Nilbog. I saw it on the news earlier."

"And now Taylor is going to recruit _you_ too! How do you _do this_?! Is your power to be a fucking Chuck Norris meme?!"

"Haven't you heard? She's a goddess." The casual way that Rachel stated that, her eyes narrowed slightly, with a small frown on her face…

Emma worked her mouth for several seconds before words finally came out. "You…actually believe that don't you?"

"Course. Never seen anyone who could do what she did. If she's not a goddess she should be. Or will be."

"Lisa said you didn't like to talk much," I said, trailing off as I looked her over.

"Lisa's annoying as fuck. So's Alec, but at least he just plays his games and stays out of my way. And I've never met a goddess while walking Judas. Seems rude to ignore you."

"I'm not…you what, fuck it. Goddess decree, don't hurt people who don't deserve it."

Rachel nodded. "The fuckers that run the dog fighting rings. They deserve it, right? I'm okay to hurt them?"

"Just, don't kill anyone. If you can call someone to help you break them up without hurting too many people, I'd prefer that."

"Police are useless," she said with a frown.

"Get the names of the corrupt police, or the ones who blow you off. Get them to someone on my team. I'll fix it."

Emma grasped at the air and stifled a groan. "_How_ are you going to fix it, Taylor?"

"No idea, but apparently I run the city according to more and more people, so I figure I can guilt-shame a few cops into actually doing their damn jobs."

Emma bit her tongue, then frowned. "That's…actually not a bad point."

Rachel jerked her chin towards Spot and pulled Judas back as he got a bit too close to the EB. "So you made a dog Endbringer."

"EB."

"That's what I said."

"No it's…whatever. Yes."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

Emma looked between us again and grunted. "Okay, this conversation is painful. Rachel, do you need her address so you can officially join the household later?"

"Why the fuck would I be joining her household?"

"Uh, I mean, I kinda just assumed…You're a dog person and…she has a…monster…dog…And her life is insane and…I'm just going to shut up now."

Rachel nodded. "Good plan. I'm going to go finish Judas' walk. If you want tips on training your dog Endbringer ask Lisa where my shelter is. I'm usually there these days."

"Okay. Um, thanks." I waved as she walked away, Judas glancing back every so often at Spot. Spot chuffed at the Doberman, then walked up beside me, rubbing his center head along my thigh.

Emma stared at me and the EB. "You lead a very strange life."

"That is what I've been saying for the past half-hour." I was going to continue, but some of my local swarms caught a few short screams which cut off almost immediately. I redirected several clusters and sighed. "You up for a bit of heroing or do you want to hang back? I know you don't have a mask, so it's completely up to you. It's not like I need to worry, I'm walking around with a damn Endbringer so the one person in this city who doesn't know me, sure knows me now."

Emma frowned. "Someone's in trouble?"

"A few capes have a crowd hostage over the hill."

"Who?"

"No idea. But everyone's just sitting down now and one of the capes is going around making this stupid grand speech about how he's going to kill them all because they are blasphemers."

Emma pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call this in. And…hell, I'll help too. I don't think my identity is too secret either really. And if I'm going around with you no one is going to go after my family. Oh! I have a domino mask. There, now I'm officially at 'work'."

"Awesome. Let's go break up a piss-poor party."

The hill was small and we had crested it in under a minute. On the other side were four capes, and, just like I had seen in my swarm, they had a small crowd held hostage, all of the people sitting on the ground and staring attentively at either the emaciated looking woman in the center of the circle or the…man?…in a corset and feathers next to her.

Emma gasped and grabbed my arm when she saw them. "Taylor! Those are the Fallen!"

"Oh. Really? Huh, well I guess this saves me from sending Simmy after them."

"Taylor we can't do this alone!"

I turned to stare at her. "Emma. I have a literal _Endbringer_ at my heel and if we really need the backup before the PRT gets here, I can just call Rachel and her dog back. They're like 100 yards away."

While Emma's eyes widened and she focused on trying to calm down, I pulled out my phone, snapped a few pictures and sent them to Dragon. The texts had barely even sent before my phone was ringing. That got the attention of all four of the enemy capes as I just waved to them and lifted my phone to my ear. "Hi, Dragon! Any of those guys have Kill Orders?"

Theresa was shouting alreadly. "Get out of there! Valefor can hypnotize you just by looking at you and Mama Mathers is able to induce any sort of hallucination she wants! Get! Out!"

"Actually both are trying to hit me already. QA and I learned from Emma how to stop that. So, Kill Order? Or do I have to take them in all nice-like? Cause I'm not going to lie, Dragon. I really don't want to be nice to people who worshiped the damn Endbringers before I made them cuddly."

Theresa was silent for almost three seconds. Finally she replied, "The fact you can say that without any hint of joking is disturbing. I'm not certain whether I'm more disturbed with you wanting to actively hurt someone, or that you consider the EBs 'cuddly'."

"Still haven't answered my question. And two of them are coming closer."

"Taylor, can we please move," Emma growled between her clenched teeth. "That one guy with scale armor keeps trying to influence our emotions and it's getting exhausting, resetting us every two seconds."

"You can stop resetting me, Ems," I said. "I'll just shunt everything into the swarm or QA. Let's see him affect my bugs."

"That's Lionheart. He's also pyrokinetic," Theresa said with a sigh. "If you are determined to do this I might as well help. Valefor is the one in the corset, his gaze is hypnotic and once he looks at you you follow his orders. Mama Mathers, as I said before, induces hallucinations through every sense, even parahuman ones. She is the only one with a Kill Order, though there has been significant pushes for Valefor to get one as well. He's very good at hiding his murders unfortunately, so they haven't been able to convict yet. The last is Eligos; he has wind abilities and can shape the air around him into cutting blades."

I scowled. "Hiding his murders huh? So Amy doesn't hurt _anyone_ and she gets a Kill Order because of something she _could_ do and this fucker has actually killed a lot of people, but because he's smart about it we're not supposed to do anything?"

"There is a reason I was quite happy when your friends helped to break the chains forcing me to comply with these types of breaches of trust and sanity."

I nodded. "Yeah. Okay. He's not making it out of here. Emma, did you find any more? I think there's one sitting in the crowd, but it's kinda hard to tell. Check their connections for me?"

Emma frowned and raised a hand to point to one of the girls - she was maybe fourteen. "Her. She's…_very_ weakly connected to Mathers. I don't think she's with them willingly. I can reset her if you get her alone."

Theresa piped up from my phone. "Turn the camera on her, please." I obliged and she grunted. "Ala. She was abducted from the Wards two years back. She can make a cloud of darkness then shoot an energy beam from anywhere within it."

"Hmm, like if Grue and Purity had had a secret love child," I said nodding. "Cool. Save her, hurt the rest, kill Valefor and Mathers. Roger. Thanks, Dragon."

"Taylor, wait - " But anything else she was going to say was lost as I cut the connection.

Smiling, I walked a few steps closer as Mama Mathers separated herself from the small group of Fallen. "You're in my city and you've taken some of the people I protect hostage. One chance to let them go."

Mama Mathers smirked, the expression pulling her thin face into a disturbing visage reminiscent of a skeleton trying to pretend it had skin. "We thought to just make an example of the blasphemers, and yet, here you are, the _Queen_ herself. This is…perfect."

"Oh lady," I shook my head. "You really have no idea who you're fucking with."

"Ah, but I do. You profane our gods and call it good. You slap the faces of those who have recognized the End Times. You are but a girl. And girls can be brought to heel."

I smiled. "Oh, really? So tell me, am I supposed to be scared?"

"You are…_now_." The purring triumph in her voice was almost hilarious. Between Sentiment, Adaptation, and Quiet, it was easy enough to shrug off whatever hallucination effect she was trying to force into my mind. That was before QA shut down the outreach effect of her power to me as it was.

This was going to be _fun_.

It took her about 15 seconds to realize that I wasn't seeing a monstrous demon or something. Her face slowly morphed from pleasure, to confusion, to rage and by the end she was snarling. "What are you?"

"Well, I think the PRT officially rates me as Trump 12 now, but I don't particularly care. Is it my turn yet or do you want to try another one? I've already beat three of you and I haven't even moved yet."

"Eligos!" she snapped.

He was throwing his arms forward almost before she finished speaking his name. I watched the wind blades soaring to me. And I yawned as I flexed Zephyr to snap the blades back into a light breeze. "So…you done?"

"_Demon_!" Mathers snarled.

"No. That's _Goddess_,to you, bitch!" I pulled my rage back to me and called on Transport. The explosion brought me to a few feet above Ala before anyone recognized that I had moved. The force of the blast knocked the people around her out of the way though I had made sure to leave enough room that no one was hit too hard by the explosion. As I fell, I used Zephyr again to direct my fall and I grabbed Ala. One more teleport later, I was close enough to Emma to toss Ala towards the redhead. Emma didn't waste any time and Ala gasped, falling to the ground with tears in her eyes as Emma worked her mojo.

Mathers shrieked, Valefor yelled. Lionheart and Eligos started running towards us.

"Spot! Get them! Don't hurt the civilians!" The triple roar that echoed over the park froze everyone in their tracks. My EB leapt over the top of the hill, finally letting himself be seen as he covered a hundred feet in a single bound. His left head whipped out and snapped closed on Valefor, cutting the man in half, while his right head closed down on Mathers, ending her rage-induced scream in a moment. He didn't bite through her immediately, he just let his purple flames cover her; her squeals of horror were so very satisfying. His center head lashed for Lionheart while his tail surged to the side and knocked Eligos a dozen feet into the air.

"Hmm, three seconds. Not bad. That's a good Spot! Who's a good boy? You are!"

"Laying it on a little thick there?" Emma muttered.

"Fuckers attacked my city. _No one_ attacks my city. Not anymore. _Never again_. No mercy." I strode forward and patted Spot's flank. "Finish it." He grunted and his jaws closed on Mama Mathers. I stepped beside Lionheart as he struggled inside the grip of the center head. "Now for you…You like to play with emotions huh? How about some of the ones from the group you just terrified? Did you know that Sentiment can share emotions as well? I just found out. Let's test it."

By the time I had Spot let him go, he was curled up into a blubbering mess on the grass, his hands clutching at his head and screaming to make the fear and panic stop. Eligos was knocked out and down for the count so I didn't even bother to do anything more to him than tie him up with spider silk.

Emma came up next to me as I looked at the small crowd of civilians. "Jesus, Taylor. You realize you just took out some of the strongest Fallen in under 30 seconds?"

"There are times I hate my power. Then there are times I _really like_ my power." I stopped next to one of the taller brunettes who was staring up at me with a small smile and a tear at the corner of her eye. Squatting down so that I was on the same level as her, I asked, "Are you okay?"

"I knew we would be fine once I saw you arrive."

"You can stand up now. They're taken care of."

"We can't. He told us to stay seated. His power hasn't ended with him."

I frowned. "Give me a second." I reached for Influence and Stability. Pulling them both together, I was able to adjust the expression of each into a modified form. Good thing that Gully wasn't fighting right now as she would almost definitely _not_ enjoy losing her ability for a few moments. Paige on the other hand probably wouldn't even notice. I reached out to the girl on the ground and tapped her head, right between her eyes.

She gasped and surged to her feet. "My Goddess! You saved me a second time!"

"Second time?" I murmured, trying to gently extricate myself from her hug while Emma covered her mouth to hide the chuckles.

"My name is Charlotte. I was leading the people here when they came. I'm…not one of your Chosen Capes, but I was there at the beginning. I saw you before you were known. You saved me, then, and you saved me now. I'll always support you, My Goddess."

I awkwardly patted her back as my eyes tracked over the rest of the group. The group with shining eyes and wide smiles. Oh. So…I had just saved a group of Hebertologists…and proclaimed myself as a Goddess _right_ in front of them all.

_How_ was this my _life_?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Here Comes The New Boss (Nothing Like The New Boss)' by HowlingGuardian. On SB. This has just gotten started but it's a quite promising beginning. Taylor is transferring into Arcadia after The Swarm and Butcher did something around Winslow. Taylor is also now Butcher. A mostly sane Butcher who the voices so far seem to somewhat like/tolerate. I fear for the Bay when someone pisses her off!


	74. Interlude 12.x

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This one was going to be a bit longer with two additional scenes but I felt like the last PHO chapter should be dedicated to itself. So here's the last PHO chapter! There will be one more somewhat short interlude before we move fully into the last two arcs. Also, I REALLY recommend reading this chapter on SpaceBattles...Ao3 does not like the formatting on this chapter at all...

**Interlude 12.x**

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**Topic: The Queen's Rise**

**In: Boards ► Recent Events ► Brockton Bay ► Odds and Ends**

**Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Posted On Jul 6th 2011:

So I just wanted to post here with a few quick words. This isn't anything major (for once), I mostly just wanted to goggle for a bit. I mean, it was only a few months ago that I was first posting about Queen and her 'partner' Hive. And now here we are, this teenager has not only low-key taken over a city, she's assembled a team that can kill Endbringers, has regular chats with Triumvirate members, Hoovers up anyone and everyone (include ex-Birdcage bound folks and Slaughterhouse members), casually curb stomps monsters like the Fallen, AND takes her Endbringers *ahem* EBs on walkies.

Did anyone else have any idea how far this would escalate? I feel like I'm in a parallel universe that operates under different rules...

I'm not sure whether to be impressed as all hell or scared to death. Or both. Maybe both.

Mod Note: User has received an infraction for this post. Please do not discuss former associates of some controversial Outcast members. As no proof has ever been brought out, such claims potentially incite violence against innocent parties. -Tin_mother

**(Showing page 1 of 161)**

> **►Brocktonite03 **(Veteran Member)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> You forgot she has a religion centered on her too. My cousin has listened to Vista talk. Supposedly the tenants are pretty simple. They mostly boil down to 'Be nice and don't screw with other people's things.'
> 
> **►Whitecollar **(Cape Wife)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I've seen my fair share of new heroes and villains. I for one never expected the Outcasts to take off like they have. My hubby just laughs when I bring it up now. He says he's never felt safer being on the same coast as that girl. While I'm a bit scared of the power amassed, I can't help but be a little happy that my husband is safe.
> 
> **►WagTheDog **(Cape Groupie)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Queen's good. I haven't met her myself, but she ran into Bitch the other day. Way Bitch described it, they had a nice talk. Bitch doesn't talk to most people so Queen's good in my books.
> 
> Also, she has a fucking EB as a DOG. How much more awesome can you get?
> 
> **►QwertyD**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Bagrat...Dude...We don't talk about Birdy or Flamey...That's a quick way to bring the Mod hammer down.
> 
> **►Reave **(Verified PRT Agent)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> The official position of the PRT is that the capes in question are cleared and have no relation to any other previously existing personnel before their reveal to the public.
> 
> On topic: I for one *adore* Queen and her Outcasts. I used to be afraid of every call we got in this city. Between Kaiser and Lung and Skidmark, we risked our lives daily. Now? I've never seen Brockton Bay be so peaceful. Those people have been a godsend. Or goddess-send 
> 
> **►Aerohydra **(Unverified Goddess)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Ha! She's even enticing the PRT people to her banner! Anyone know if that cute agent who's been around for some of the incidents is with them yet? Wanna start bets? I've got 10 bucks says she makes it another two weeks before she's roped into their group. She's just Queen's type.
> 
> **►Insight **(Verified Cape) (Verified New Leaf)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> You mean female? Hehe. Taylor don't hurt me, you know it's true!
> 
> **►BuildABetterButterfly **(Verified Cape) (Brockton Outcast)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I'm telling on you. You better run. She'll get the spatula.
> 
> **►Miss Mercury **(Protectorate Employee)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> It's exchanges like this that make us remember why we laugh with the Outcasts instead of prostrating in fear at the escalation queen.

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 159, 160, 161**

**(Showing page 40 of 161)**

> **►CMDR_Kai**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I just wanted to circle back around to the fact that she literally took an EB for a walk. Like who just *does* that? The sheer cajones on this girl continually astound me. It's glorious to watch.
> 
> **►Laotsunn **(Kyushu Survivor)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> And she killed the Fallen using it as well; in addition to the slaughter of Nilbog. So it is not merely for show as some fools have claimed. She proves her mettle and her control in a single fell swoop. There are lessons to be learned in this.
> 
> **►AverageAlexandros **(Cape Husband)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> If most people had killed Valefor like that, there would've been consequences. She gets off scot free. How is this fair? People aren't even making motions of holding her accountable to regular laws anymore!
> 
> **►AngelicKnight**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Uh dude, she killed an Endbringer. And she took another one on a walk. And she has the Sim-SIMMY wearing a collar to troll her. She _resurrected_! She CAN do whatever she wants and there is literally nothing any of us can say or do about it.
> 
> And really, how sure are we that Spot didn't just take her order to 'stop them' literally? She never specifically told him to kill Valefor, only Mama Mathers.
> 
> **►Dawgsmiles **(Veteran Member)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> What's worse, that she has control of Spot and told him to do it or that she doesn't have control of Spot and he was solving things through extreme prejudice? I prefer that she ordered it herself personally. Give me a girl with a grudge against a murderer over a loosely directed EB any day thanks.
> 
> **►Acree**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I thought Valefor had a Kill Order?
> 
> **►Bagrat **(Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> @Acree, *technically* yes, he did. But if you check the documentation, it was backdated. Officially it took effect once he started ranting at the hostages about killing them for being heretics. So...about one minute before Queen had Spot kill him.
> 
> **►Bitch **(Verified Cape)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Fuck you all. That asshole could've had any of those people kill themselves in seconds. Three had knives already held to their own throats because of his power and one had already stabbed himself in the leg because of him.
> 
> Valefor deserved exactly what he got. Queen made the right call and she saved a dozen lives because of it. Anyone wants to keep fighting about it, come and find me and we can discuss in person.
> 
> **►GunzGirl **(Verified Cape) (Protectorate Employee)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Bitch...please. Don't call people out on PHO. You've been doing well, don't force us to come to your shelter because you're beating people up.
> 
> **►Zeushobbit **(PunyGod (Verified Not-Loki))
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Hey! The Protectorate is finally calling you by your name! Congrats Bitch! Long time coming eh?

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 ... 159, 160, 161**

**(Showing page 127 of 161)**

> **►SpecificProtagonist **(Brockton Outcast)
> 
> (Brockton Outcast)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I agree with Char. We need a full listing of who's with who now. Things are getting a bit confusing and I need a chart to keep track.
> 
> Yes, yes it's for my shipping chart. Don't anyone judge me.
> 
> **►Char**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> I mean, I was just asking so we can keep the right people in the right places for the hierarchy, but sure. I guess that reasoning works too.
> 
> **►SpecificProtagonist **(Brockton Outcast)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Char don't go weird on me. You've met Queen now. You know she doesn't like when people go weird.
> 
> **►GstringGirl**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Uh, SP, you do know you qualify as weird right? I've read your Creative Writing stuff.
> 
> **►SpecificProtagonist **(Brockton Outcast)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> My online personality is much different from my in-person personality 
> 
> And you're one to throw stones G. You had a rather interesting wave the other day.
> 
> **►GstringGirl**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> See now if my tentacles had been under my control I would have a comeback directly in your league. Unfortunately, they were not so I do not, and I can only blush instead.
> 
> (And I CAN blush now!! QUEEN FOREVER BITCHES!!!!!)
> 
> **►Firebear**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Oh boy, she's got another one. SP update the chart!
> 
> **►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Don't. You. Dare.
> 
> **►Char**
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> Goddess decree 
> 
> Seriously though, I really do apologize for my reactions when we met. I'm not usually so awkward or, well, starstruck. You probably don't even remember me, but we had met before too. I was...ugh god I awkward then too. Kill me now.
> 
> **►Watchbug **(Verified Cape) (Unverified Deviant)
> 
> Replied On Jul 6th 2011:
> 
> No, I remember you. The warehouse thing right? You know that was actually one of my first patrols...Wow, how did things get to here?

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130 ... 160, 161**

■

**Private message from Char:**

**Char *New Message*:** Hi! So I got together the information that we have so far about the locals. I wasn’t sure if this was what you were looking for.

**SpecificProtagonist:** Yup that’s perfect! Thanks Char!

**Soundbite:** I still don’t understand why you both wanted me looped into this.

**SpecificProtagonist:** You’re Taylor’s manager. You should have the info available.

**Soundbite**: Wait. When did I become the manager?

**SpecificProtagonist:** Uh, when you kicked Emily off of the job because she scheduled too many meetings in a single day?

**Char:** Should I be hearing this? I can take myself off the convo if you want.

**Soundbite:** Don’t worry about it. Taylor said you were okay to talk around so it’s fine. It’s not like people don’t know who most of us are away.

**SpecificProtagonist:** You see what I do for my friends? Char I’ll send you the sanitized copy without everyone _else’s_ names on it in a few minutes. And I’ll work on that shipping chart too xP

**Char:** Got it. Thanks again Madison! This will really help clear up a few questions amongst the people here.

**SpecificProtagonist: **Talk to you soon!

**Private message from SpecificProtagonist:**

**SpecificProtagonist *New Message*:** Okay, so I put in the info that Char sent as well as our own records. This look good to you, Paige?

> **Queen Hub Network**
> 
> **Outcasts**
> 
> -Queen Hub/Taylor (Queen, Hive, Avatar)
> 
> ****Queen Administrator[Self]
> 
> -Launch/Cassie (Rune, Artillery)
> 
> -Negotiator/Lisa (Tattletale, Insight)
> 
> -Shaper/Amy (Panacea, Darwin)
> 
> ****Monarch[Self]
> 
> -Influence/Paige (Canary, Mockingbird)
> 
> -Discharge/Emily (Spitfire)
> 
> -Cease/Dennis (Clockblocker)
> 
> -Horizon/Missy (Vista)
> 
> -Sting/Lily (Flechette)
> 
> -Conflagration/Mimi (Burnscar, Firelight)
> 
> ****Burning Man[Self]
> 
> -Endure/Madison (ughh…crap I need a Cape name!)
> 
> **Independent**
> 
> -Recall+Fester/Karen (Mouse Protector, also fused with Fester/Laura (Ravager))
> 
> -Clone/Noelle (Echidna)
> 
> -Gather/Ciara (Glaistig Uaine, Faerie Queen, Valkyrie)
> 
> -Reach/Sveta (Garotte, Possibly Tress now? Will update once she decides)
> 
> **Protectorate**
> 
> -Efficiency/Colin (Armsmaster)
> 
> -Repository/Hannah (Miss Militia)
> 
> -Kinetic/Ethan (Assault)
> 
> -Charge/Jessie (Battery)
> 
> -Acceleration/Robin (Velocity)
> 
> -Sonic/Rory (Triumph)
> 
> -Restore/Emma (Heartlight)
> 
> -Fragment/Chris (Kid Win)
> 
> -Indomitable/Rebecca (Alexandria)
> 
> -High Priest/Unknown (Eidolon)
> 
> -Alloy/WHAT IS WELD’S NAME?! HOW DO I NOT KNOW THIS?!?! (Weld)
> 
> -Stability/Urg…I can’t believe I missed getting her name when she stopped by… (Gully)
> 
> -Light/Kevin (Legend)
> 
> **New Wave**
> 
> -Brilliance/Sarah (Lady Photon)
> 
> -Vigor/Neil (Manpower)
> 
> -Nova/Mark (Flashbang)
> 
> -Carapace/Eric (Shielder)
> 
> -Gleam/Crystal (Laserdream) [Budded from Brilliance/Sarah, Vigor/Neil]
> 
> -Sanctuary/Vicky (Glory Girl, Sanctuary) [Budded from Sentiment/Dean (Gallant), Nova/Flashbang, Morph/Brandish] (Also part of the Outcasts)
> 
> **Guild**
> 
> -Duplicator/Theresa (Dragon)
> 
> **Coil**
> 
> -Prospect/Danny (Coil)
> 
> -Summation/Dinah (Oracle)
> 
> -Fusion/Marissa (Sundancer)
> 
> -Spawn/Jess (Genesis)
> 
> -Empowerment/Rachel (Bitch)
> 
> -Subdue/Brian (Grue)
> 
> -Direct/Alec, Jean Paul (Regent, Hijack)
> 
> -Erase/Aisha (Imp)
> 
> **Empire**
> 
> -Extrusion/Max (Kaiser)
> 
> -Processor/Brad (Hookwolf)
> 
> -Acoustic/Melody (Cricket)
> 
> -Empower/Leah (Othala)
> 
> -Leach/Neil (Victor)
> 
> -Reinforce/Justin (Crusader)
> 
> -Moderator/James (Krieg)
> 
> **ABB**
> 
> -Escalation/Kenta (Lung)
> 
> -Radius/Alice (Bakuda)
> 
> **Drifting Shards**
> 
> -Rebuild/Riley (Bonesaw) (currently linked to Shaper via Monarch)
> 
> -Adaptation/Carlos (Aegis)
> 
> -Capacitance/Shawn (Dauntless)
> 
> -Radiance/Kayden (Purity)
> 
> -Sentiment/Dean (Gallant)
> 
> -Zephyr/Jonah (Stormtiger)
> 
> -Court/Monica (Butcher)
> 
> ****Butcher 1-4, and 6-13
> 
> -Minion/Jamie (Nilbog)
> 
> -Strengthen/Unknown (Mord Nag)
> 
> -Quiet/Unknown (Sleeper)

**I’m missing most of the other Case 53s that have come to Taylor. Any help you can provide would be great.

**Soundbite: **Okay so I have a few notes:

  1. Are we sure that Mimi’s avatar is named Burning Man? That seems a bit…much to me.
  2. Move Vicky from New Wave to the Outcasts. She’s barely doing anything with them at all anymore. I’m also half convinced that New Wave is just going to roll up and officially join us in another two or three weeks. Sarah has been implying too much and asking about our normal ops almost every other day.
  3. Should we leave Clone in there? Isn’t Clone as a shard basically killed? Did I misunderstand that? All this is so confusing for me…
  4. Colin, Hannah, Ethan, and Jessie. Do we leave them in the Protectorate Block? I’m torn over this…We should ask them what they want.
  5. HOW DO YOU KNOW TRIUMPH’S NAME?! Can I meet him?
  6. Side note, when the hell did Taylor or QA have enough interaction with either him or Kid Win to induct them into the Network?
  7. Carol still isn’t in the Network? Jeez she must really hate Taylor and Amy…Or she’s just stubborn as all hell.
  8. The Empire just gave you the names of all their members? Really? Or was this Cassie being a bitch by proxy and happily telling all while Kaiser glared in the background?
  9. Uhhh, Regent used to be Hijack? Fucking hell, why am I always the last one to hear these things?!
  10. Who in the hell is Imp?
  11. Bakuda’s name is Alice? Really? _Really_?
  12. I would put Rebuild up with Monarch. I rather doubt Taylor is going to want to easily access that particular one when Monarch is doing such a better job with it.
  13. You’re really leaving most of the Butchers as just numbers? Come on Madison, ask Taylor what their names are! If we’re going to do this thing, we’re going to do it _right_.
  14. I’ll work on getting a list of all the Case 53s for you.

**SpecificProtagonist: **Thanks! I’ll make the changes. Are you sure you want to meet Rory? I’ve noticed you and Dennis cuddling lately xP

**Soundbite: **No comment.

**Soundbite: **And for the record, there’s nothing that says I can’t ogle pretty capes. Even if I do kinda like a teammate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Madison's Fantasy' by Thetntm. On QQ. Madison/Taylor (probably once it gets going and moves from dreams to reality). In this, Golden Morning isn't a thing and it's set after Taylor is Weaver for a while in Chicago. Madison has also since moved there and is having extremely smutty fantasies about being dommed by Taylor and 'punished' for her previous actions. Taylor stumbles onto the fanfic she's written and is rather intrigued. Very well written. Extremely fun. Currently far too short at just the two chapters, but it was only written recently so hopefully will be updated again soon!


	75. Interlude 12.y

**Interlude 12.y**

Vicky held up the orange blouse, quirking her mouth and ultimately shaking her head a few moments later. She grabbed a yellow one next and sighed as it too was discarded. "I'm never going to find something good."

"Vicky, you look amazing no matter what you're wearing," Amy said. She rolled her eyes at the blonde and handed over a green shirt. "How about this one. Does it meet your expectations?"

"You are completely biased. I can't trust anything you say. Besides you don't understand fashion." She held up the green shirt for a second, then turned her head to stare at Amy. "This is about two sizes too small for me."

"You would look _great_ in it."

"My boobs would barely fit."

Amy blushed. "That's kinda the point. I mean, shouldn't they be shown off? Isn't that what you've been trying to grill into me with these stupid fashion tips?"

"Tell you what, Ames, I'll wear this shirt if you wear that fishnet top. With just a sports bra under it."

Amy's face lit up with her blush and she could only stammer. Vicky grinned in victory. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Tact, dear Amy, tact. Just because we're dating doesn't mean you get to make me look like a bimbo. I swear my boobs have been getting bigger too, I blame you."

Amy's good cheer plummeted and her gaze dropped to the ground. "Do you really think I would do something like that?"

Vicky glanced towards the brunette and she groaned, her hand quickly placing her latest find back onto the rack before she moved and pulled Amy into a hug. "Oh, Ames, come on. You _know_ I don't think that. It was a _joke_."

"It wasn't that funny," Amy grumbled. She couldn't help nuzzling into the embrace despite herself.

"Please, you make giant kaiju bugs with acid for blood; not to mention the creepy muscle spiders and something that is basically just jaws and a tiny stomach. Any embarrassment about minor changes here and there should be a thing of the past, Ames."

Amy sighed, finally pulling back from the hug. "Modifying creatures for Taylor and modifying _people_ are very different things, Vicky. One is practical and fun. The other is creepy."

"Your bugs are totally creepy."

"They're…okay well some of them are creepy, but most are just _cool_."

"Exploding. Acid. Bugs. Not cool, creepy."

Amy rolled her eyes. "The kaiju was cool."

Vicky sighed, then nodded. "Yes, okay, I'll give you that one. The kaiju was fucking awesome. You should totally make another."

"It wouldn't survive long," Amy said, shrugging. "It was basically designed to die. Besides, Taylor has a ton of other things that are a hell of a lot better than it now. How many powers does she have now?"

"I've lost count," Vicky said. She turned back to the clothes rack and pulled out a gray and blue top. "How does this look?"

"Nah, I like the silver one better."

"This? Seriously? Why do I even bother asking you. You have _no_ fashion sense at all, Ames." She picked up a gold blouse and held it up. "Hmm?"

"Yes. Definitely, yes."

"Glad we agree on something." Vicky draped it over her arm and shifted aisles. As they moved, she turned to look at Amy, acting casual as she asked, "So, just out of curiosity, are you _trying_ to flirt with Taylor?"

Amy stumbled. She managed to keep herself from falling over, though the blush on her cheeks and her grimace said more than her words ever would've. "Ummm…"

"I mean, I know we all kinda joke about her having a harem, and I know that you were interested for awhile, but she's also kind of overwhelmed at the moment. And you've been going pretty all in on this thing with…well me. Which is still a little weird, gotta say."

"You're still here," Amy murmured.

"I am. Doesn't stop it from being weird, Ames. It's gonna be weird for a while. You got used to it years ago, you're going to have to give me more than a few weeks to think of this as normal."

Amy sighed. "I know. That's why I'm not pushing. I'm happy for whatever I can get." She paused, then continued on, her voice softer, "If I _was_ flirting with Taylor, would that be okay?"

Vicky bit her lip before slowly nodding. "I…think so. But to be completely honest, Amy, at this point, I'm not sure how much of that is _me_ and how much of that is _Sanctuary_. She _really_ likes Taylor and QA."

Amy cocked her head and tapped her fingers on her prosthetic. "I thought the shards didn't have feelings like that. Shaper doesn't. It loves to experiment, but that's about it. Well, experimenting and candy. I swear we can keep it under control now by just controlling its access to sugar. Which is rather sad."

"They're all different, Ames. The more she and I integrate the more I understand that. They have their own personalities and ways of approaching things. Scion and Thinker usually suppressed those, making them all follow the groupthink, but each are as much individuals as they are a hive mind."

"And Sanctuary is even more different because she's new I guess?"

Vicky nodded. "She was never under any of the restrictions that the others were. She could grow and shape herself pretty freely. When I triggered she basically sprang into existence. She has the memories of the experiences of her 'parents' but her personality is brand new. I'm glad we convinced her to rename herself - it helped her to grow up. She's latched onto QA and Taylor and it's actually really sweet; even if it's coloring my own emotions a bit on that matter." Vicky stopped as they got to the register and handed over their purchases. "Credit." As she collected their boxes, Amy chuckled beside her.

"This is so weird."

"What?"

"We're talking about the inner workings of powers and we're in the middle of a clothing store on the Boardwalk. It's just surreal is all."

Vicky laughed. "Yeah, things have really changed lately, huh? Oh, before I forget and while we're still on the topic, if you do want to flirt with Taylor, you need to be more obvious. She's dense as hell. I swear, she's worse than Dean was when the two of us first started going out!"

Amy groaned. "I really don't need to hear about your struggles with Dean. I still remember you getting into that skimpy cheerleader outfit to try and get him to notice you."

Vicky grimaced. "Yeah, that was not very bright on my part." She sighed. "He deserved better than he got."

"You made him happy, Vicky. And maybe one day we'll be able to bring him back. I've been talking with Monarch and it thinks it may be possible if the shard was able to get a good enough imprint of the Host."

Vicky's smile was barely large enough to be noticed and she hurriedly wiped at the edges of her eyes. "And people wonder why we're starting to get a religious following. Apparently we'll be able to resurrect people soon."

"_Maybe_ resurrect _some_ people," Amy corrected. She looked to Vicky, her eyes narrowing. "Wait, _we_?"

Vicky's smile widened. "Yes, _we_. Taylor's the goddess, apparently most of the Outcasts are the High Priestesses. You should look this stuff up, it's almost hilarious, except that it actually makes a bit of sense, and is real. Which is really frightening. Like absolutely terrifying. But enough about that! You want to go and say hi to Dad before we head home?"

Amy's peal of laughter had an almost frightening quality to it. "Only if I get to hold your hand the _entire_ time that we are in front of Carol."

Vicky just sighed. "One day, I am going to figure out how to get the two of you to bury that hatchet."

"But it is not this day, Vicky."

"…Seriously? Did you really just reference Lord of the Rings? Good god, Madison is such a bad influence on you. Still…I do actually want to see Dad."

"So do I, Vicky." She grabbed the bags from the blonde and smirked. "Glory Girl Express for old times sake?"

"Glory Girl Express."

* * *

_50 caliber rifle with extended barrel. 10 seconds to ready weapon_.

Lisa suppressed a sigh as she expressly turned her gaze away from the jerk eyeing Taylor's ass. The guy looked vaguely familiar, not that it really mattered.

"Something the matter, Lisa?"

"Nothing, sweetie. It's fine."

Taylor frowned as she looked at her, then her eyes narrowed and she grunted. "Oh. Greg. Forget about him. He's annoying, but he's harmless."

Lisa glanced back to the jerk and she saw a small cloud of honey bees hovering a few feet away from him. "Sweetie, that is totally cheating. I said it was fine."

"He's really nothing to worry about, Lise. I knew him back when I went to Winslow. I haven't seen him in…wow, almost half a year. Not since January at least. I'm amazed he still remembers me enough to pick us out of the crowd."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Taylor, you're internationally famous. He would have to literally live under a rock to not recognize you now."

"Yeah, but that's mostly with my costume on."

"Maybe 50% of the time, sweetie. The rest is you just being you. We're lucky if you happen to have a domino mask at the time."

Taylor blushed. "Oh. Um…sorry?"

"Do I look like I'm upset?"

"You look like you wanted to kill Greg," she stated.

Lisa winced. "Not…me. Negotiator is very…proactively protective."

"He is?"

"He is." Lisa shrugged and leaned into her girlfriend's side. "It's a bit weird, but I'm getting used to it. It's still better than constant headaches."

Taylor nodded. "So you're not still worried about being useless because your Sherlock Holmes thing doesn't work anymore?"

"I can kill Endbringers now _and_ still do my cold read gig. The Sherlock Scan may not be as good, but I'm happy. Rest assured, Tay, I am no longer worried you're going to ditch me for being useless."

Taylor sighed. "That wasn't what I meant, Lisa."

"I know, but I built a lot of myself on being useful. To my folks, to your dad, to you," Lisa shrugged as best she could with one shoulder. "It's one of the things I'm talking with the shrink about. I like to be useful and I like to be smart. I can't help being a bitch, but I _can_ help being insecure."

"You're _not_ a bitch," Taylor grumbled.

"I'm not a bitch to _you_. You still haven't heard what I did to Krieg."

Taylor laced her fingers with Lisa and chuckled. "Lise, I don't think that should count. He's kind of a Nazi."

"Technically he's an ex-Nazi."

"Only because he's scared of me and doesn't want to move to Europe."

"Haven't you already gotten rid of the Gesellschaft?" Lisa teased poking Taylor's side.

Taylor started to say something, but stopped as she opened her mouth. "You know, I'm…not actually sure. Give me a sec."

She stared out into space as Lisa directed their steps towards the nearest bench. Taylor was already back with her by the time they sank onto the seat. "Huh, so apparently Simmy and Benny stopped off in Europe after dealing with Sleeper and took out their leadership before convincing the rest to 'change their ways'…I guess I missed that report." She even did the air quotes.

"I think you were dealing with the Fallen in the park at that point, Tay."

"Oh."

"What's Levi up to these days?"

Taylor groaned. "I have him helping to fix some of the radiation issues in the trenches and near some islands. Did you know people tried to use an atomic cape to attack him for a while at the beginning? I guess they thought they would have better luck flash-boiling him then they had had with finishing off Behemoth. I think Behemoth killed the guy after that attempt actually…There weren't any radioactive capes after that so…upside?"

Lisa picked her head up from Taylor's shoulder and stared at the brunette. "Levi can eat radiation?"

"Oh, no. He's using some sort of water manipulation to ionize the surrounding area and neutralize it. I don't really understand it. He may be just fusing some of the fallout into less radioactive materials using water pressure too…"

Lisa blinked. She shook her head and laid back against Taylor's shoulder squeezing the girl's hand harder. "You really are terrifying, sweetie."

"That's not very endearing," Taylor mumbled.

"Sure it is. You can protect all of us just by being casually horrifying without even _meaning_ to be. When you actually _try_ it's fucking _hot_."

Lisa didn't have to be looking at Taylor's face to know she was practicing glowing. "How do you turn something that should be creepy into something that is actually sweet?"

"It's a talent." A small, Indian woman passing on the sand glanced their way. She smiled at the two of them and gave a salute as she passed.

_Plasma repeater with auto tracking to destroy cloth decoys and find target. 48 seconds to ready weapon._

Lisa groaned and rolled her eyes. "I'm seriously going to have to train Negotiator though. He's _too_ protective."

Taylor glanced down. "What do you mean?"

"Pretty sure he just told me how to kill Parian. How is she not in our group yet? Is it just because you haven't made the effort or are you actively resisting recruiting one of the few confirmed lesbians in this city? Was Lily your limit and you're just having fun determining how long it takes to convert the rest of us to your deviant ways?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Taylor shifted enough that she could bump Lisa's shoulder with her other hand. "I refute your point with Amy."

Lisa waved that away. "Pssah. I have seen your evil plot! I will not be fooled! Holmes is on the case evil-doer! I _will_ get to the bottom of this scheme!"

"You are impossible!" Taylor laughed.

"Yup, I am." Lisa replied, chuckling as well.

A man passed by, his head completely shaved. He turned to leer at them for an instant before passing on.

_Revolver, laser sighting augment. 15 seconds to ready weapon._

Lisa smiled. While she of course wouldn't act on it, that one, she actually agreed with.

* * *

"Are they arguing again?" Dinah asked.

Lemark grunted. He deliberately moved his knight forward before nodding once and replying. "Of course they're arguing, kid. I told him this was going to be harder to make work than he had expected."

"She had a date earlier. There was a 86.9974% chance that this would go _well_. I specifically said to have their dinner tonight because of that!" Dinah took his knight with her rook, a small scowl on her face. Lemark refused to allow his frustration to show. He knew the girl wasn't even using her power for this, she didn't have enough questions for the day to use it on a game of chess. How was she still beating him each time?!

"Wait, since when can you predict things revolving around Taylor? I thought she was a blind spot once she died and everything?"

Dinah shook her head. "I got the number back for her about a month ago. I started being able to see the EBs once they knelt down for her. Don't know why. Don't much care since they're friendly now."

"Riiighht. Magic. Definitely magic. So do you want me to turn the feed to their room on?" He moved his pawn, trying to ignore that he just needed three unhassled moves to checkmate her. Maybe, just maybe he could do this…

Dinah frowned, lifting her hand from her bishop. "You don't offer to do that. Why are you offering to do that?"

"Partially because the Boss pissed me off earlier so if I can get _you_ angry with him for a bit…well that's good payback. Partially because I want to actually _win_ one of these games and if you're distracted maybe I have a darn chance."

Dinah just smiled. "You're never going to win. I _love_ chess."

"Uh huh. Let's see you beat me while you're stewing in annoyance at Mr. C."

"I'm still going to win."

"We'll see, kid. We'll see." He leaned over and flipped the viewscreen in Dinah's room on and turned it to the dining room feed. Danny and Taylor flickered into view an instant later, Lisa sitting next to Taylor.

Dinah groaned. "Oh. That's why it went bad."

"What, did Blondie stir the pot? I would've thought that Mr. C. could manage to mess this up on his own. He's really good with you. He's _horribly bad_ with his own daughter."

Dinah sighed and shook her head. She finally moved her bishop forward. "She didn't need to say anything. She probably didn't. If she came with Taylor there was a 94.667% chance that Mr. C. was going to have a very unpleasant evening. I couldn't even warn him to ask Taylor to drop her off first though because then the chances got even worse. Also, check."

"Yeah, yeah, I saw that." He shifted his king and flicked the volume for the TV.

"_This isn't something you can_ argue_ about!" Taylor screamed. She slammed her hand down on the table, her snarl evident even from the camera's - rather bad - vantage point. "You threatened to _kill her_!"_

"_It was just a _threat_!" Danny shouted back. "I didn't actually intend to carry through with it!"_

"_Well you sure as hell had _me_ convinced you did," Lisa commented, casually eating a piece of steak._

"_Oh come on! Taylor, you know me, you know I wouldn't have done that!"_

_Taylor growled and as she shouted back, a cloud of bugs formed behind her into the vague shape of a frowning woman with crossed arms._

Lemark shook his head. "That girl is terrifying."

"I think that's actually QA behind her," Dinah commented. "Check."

"How do you keep _doing_ that?" he muttered, moving a piece. "Your move. And yes, I know it's her shard. That makes things worse, kid. Once upon a time I called her 'fucking magic' as a joke. I didn't think it was going to end up being literally true."

"Taylor's not magic. She's just _awesome_. _Myrddin_ is magic. Check."

"Stop doing that!" Dinah grinned at him. Lemark scowled and moved his knight to block her attempt. Not that it was going to help. He could see the end already and it didn't look like there was a way out. He would have to hope she missed it.

"_I work perfectly fine with Grue, Bitch, and Regent," Danny spat. "It's not my fault that _she _wanted to fight each time we talked."_

"_You held a _gun_ to her head! Who _wouldn't_ want to fight after that?!"_

_Lisa set her fork down and covered Taylor's hand with her own. "I can speak for myself, Taylor."_

"_No, fuck that! You shouldn't have to deal with him! I don't know why I ever agreed to these meals!"_

_Danny held up his hands and shifted deeper into his seat as Taylor leaned further over the table, her shard's avatar growing in size behind her. "Taylor, I was _focused_. I was focused on making this city better. For you. For your mother's memory. Lisa was making things _hard_ and I couldn't even use my power to help the team when she was around because it incapacitated her. She was useful on her own, but she was a liability and frustrating in almost every other circumstance."_

Dinah winced. "Oh those were not smart things to say…"

Lemark nodded. "Yeah, Mr. C. seems to lose brain cells when he talks to your sorta sister."

"_You were _focused_?! _Focused_ Dad?!" Taylor slammed her hand onto the table again and this time it went through the table entirely leaving a hole and splinters behind._

Lemark winced. "Fuck, I almost forgot she had the Butcher's powers."

"How did you forget that?"

"I try to actively suppress how scary her full list of powers is. It keeps me off her radar. I'm pretty sure she knows my name since Mr. C. called me all the time before we knew she was eavesdropping."

"Ah. Check."

"You little…"

"_I did more to fix this place in a month than you did in a year! Did you even know that Amy had to heal me after the locker Dad? Did you?! You didn't even drive me home!"_

"_To be fair, he did almost send the Undersiders against Sophia for that one. I mean, we didn't know she was Shadow Stalker then but - "_

"_Shut up Lisa! I would've preferred to have _my father_ there when I woke up instead of _petty revenge_!"_

"_There was nothing I could do! I wanted to make things better, but the only way I could do that was by using my assets."_

"_AND I WANTED MY FATHER!"_

Dinah winced. "Wow, this is like…really bad."

"Families, kid. Families."

"I never yelled at my parents like that."

"Never?"

Dinah bit her lip, and slowly shook her head. "Maybe once or twice. I tried to tell them about my powers and they said I was making it up. We got into a fight about my headaches after that. We stopped fighting after Mr. C. started taking care of me and explained to them why I kept getting them. Checkmate."

Lemark groaned and tipped his king over. "Congrats, kid, you win again. Want to play another round?"

Dinah looked back at the screen where Taylor's eyes had started to glow and Lisa was physically holding her in a bear hug to prevent her from leaping across the table. "Shouldn't someone go and calm her down?"

"Didn't you hear me when I said she was fucking magic, kid? You think I want to willingly walk into the line of fire? No thank you. Now, best three of five?"

_The table exploded as razor wind lashed out from Taylor and shredded it._

Dinah hurriedly nodded. "Best three of five it is."

Lemark started to reset the pieces.

"Maybe…I should call Dancer?"

"You do that kid. Mini-sun vs. Fucking Magic. My bet's on magic, but sure go ahead."

_Taylor screamed again and Danny dived to the side as a gout of fire flew towards him._

"…I'm going to call Dancer."

* * *

Missy settled into her seat on the couch and tried not to stare at Taylor pacing in the open space in front of them. The entire gang had assembled including the adults. Lisa was, amazingly enough, rather reserved and quiet for once. Madison had been trying to get Taylor to calm down since the two of them had come home and called the meeting, with minimal success. Missy had tried to get the details of what had Taylor so angry, but Lisa had only replied with 'she protected me. She didn't have to, but she did.'

As if that wasn't cryptic as heck. If they didn't get a full answer by the end of this meeting she'd ask Dennis. Or Ethan. They both liked to joke, but they were good at explaining Taylor's moods. Which was weird, but she wasn't going to complain. If she was going to become a badass like Queen, she needed to _understand_ Queen.

If only she could understand why _Ethan_ was better at it than _Jessie_, then she could probably figure out some sort of important truth about the universe itself…

"Not that I don't understand there is something of gravity to pass on," Colin said, his voice just barely avoiding being a grumble. She'd have to learn how to do that 'frustrated but not frustrated' thing too. "However, I was in the middle of a project. So if we could perhaps move this forward to the point where we can all assist…"

Karen chuckled. "Oh Armsy, don't change. Your attempts at parenting are still amusing as heck."

"And yet, they are leagues above Coil's," Lisa muttered. "Taylor, sweetie, you're going to make a rut in the floor if you don't stop."

Taylor came to a dead stop in the middle of the room, her fists clenched as she took several deep breaths. After a few breathing cycles she opened her eyes and flexed her fingers. "I'm okay. I'm good."

Cassie shook her head. "And I'm the Queen of England."

Taylor glared at Cassie. "I can make you that if you want."

"No, no, ignore me. Please." Cassie whimpered, "I really don't want to be Queen."

"Then listen to me when I say that I'm _good_."

"Of course you are, Taylor," Madison said, clamping her hand on Taylor's arm and trying to tug her to the side. "Sit down."

"No. I've made a decision. I'll sit down after we all talk."

"Really, _really_ shouldn't be making decisions while angry, Tay," Emily said.

"I'm going to kill track down and kill Stinger."

The room was utterly silent for a beat. Then it erupted into shouting.

Missy's eyes just widened and she felt her heart start to slam against her chest. "Taylor? _Why_?" she whispered.

She froze when Taylor turned her gaze on her. The brunette stepped forward and knelt down to clasp her hands. Most of the shouting in the room started to peter off until silence reigned supreme. "I had a very…enlightening dinner with my father, Missy. A dinner where I did things I didn't know I could do before. I can kill her now. She's still vulnerable while attached to Manton, limited, weak. She's hurt and we know what she looks like, both her and her Host. She'll never leave us entirely alone and I can't leave loose ends. If I do, one of us is going to be killed by her, either now or after she jumps to a new Host."

"But, Taylor, she can _kill_ you," Missy said, her voice barely loud enough to carry through the room.

"And we have at least three people who can kill _her_. We have to do this now, Missy. Otherwise we're always going to be watching our backs. We have to do this now; before we go after Scion. I need to keep you all safe."

Missy squeezed her eyes shut, breathed in and out, then opened her eyes, and nodded slowly. She had to be a badass. Queen wanted to protect them. She was going to help, however she could. "Okay. Let's kill the damn thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Talking With The Bee' by CptTagon. On QQ. A Taylor/Lisa, fairly short oneshot. While it's short, it's incredibly sweet. It starts with Taylor massaging Lisa and ends with her accepting that Lisa is in love with her. Surprisingly, it doesn't actually proceed as far as would be expected of a QQ ficlet.


	76. Confrontation 01

**Confrontation 01**

"You're making my job exceedingly difficult, Miss Hebert."

I just shrugged and continued sipping my tea as Madison clomped down the stairs with my overnight bag. "I don't see why. Siberian isn't anywhere near a major city. We should be able to catch up to her in - hey, Mads, what was the name of that town?"

"Torfan! Don't know who names a town Torfan, but it looks like it's abandoned now based on the satellite images so there's not really anyone we can ask locally for history details."

"Right. Torfan." I nodded and sipped my tea again.

Kevin groaned and hung his head. "The Siberian pulled out Alexandria's eye. She ripped off Hero's limbs. She is not a person you just randomly decide to hunt down!"

"It," I corrected. "_It_, not she. Siberian may have started off as a projection by William Manton, but now it's just a mouthpiece for Stinger. Think of it like Hive, except less friendly and more insane."

"Even more reason to not go and pick a fight." He lifted his gaze and clasped his hands in front of his suited chest. I did feel a bit bad that he had been forced to fly up from New York again, but it wasn't like I'd asked him to. I had just told the PRT that I would be out of town with a few members of my team for a day or two again; and then he'd showed up a few minutes later. This was not my fault.

"Stinger is going to try to kill me or my friends at some point. I want to take it out first and it's better to do that now while it's still crippled by dealing with a wounded Host."

"Miss Hebert, Taylor, please, the Siberian isn't a foe that can just be tackled on a whim," he said. He was wincing now. I pushed a cup of tea towards him and he cradled it like it was a life preserver. "At least send the EBs after it instead."

"She's too quick for Benny. She doesn't really have bodily fluids so Levi can't do anything to her except pop the projection - which doesn't help. Simmy would have a chance, but she'd mostly be attacking Manton and while that gets rid of Stinger's projection for now, it only buys us a few decades until he expires. Maybe longer if we keep him alive with some stasis tech. It's a good stop-gap, but it's not a permanent solution. Spot can possibly cause some damage to the actual shard, but it wouldn't be a large amount and Stinger would likely be seriously injuring or killing him in the interim."

"All I am hearing is more and more reasons why this is _not_ a good idea."

"None of the EBs are designed for, or capable of, damaging shards," I said, shrugging. "I am - now at least. I can directly attack a shard on its home dimension once I have the coordinates. So can Lisa and so can Lily. The three of us are shard killers. The EBs aren't."

"Taylor that's even more reason not to risk this sort of attack," he pleaded. His hands gripped the mug hard enough I was worried it would crack. "We have a greater enemy."

"Scion; I know. Consider this a test run. Besides, Scion doesn't have a personal grudge against me and mine. Stinger does. I don't really know _why_, but it does."

Cassie poked her head into the room and waved at Kevin before looking at me. "Hey, babe, do you need the giant longbow? Lily said I should have Mads pack it, but it's not like the girl's going to use it and I can't see you caring for it."

"Colin tuned up her arbalest right?"

"Yeah."

"Leave out the bow then. If we're down to needing arrows, her daggers would be faster and should work better. Hell, her foil would work better at that point. Lisa doesn't need it at all. As for me, just because I _can_ use Quarrel's power doesn't mean I can punch through _Siberian_ with it. I need to close the distance to be effective, so a bow is pointless."

"Gotcha." Cassie gave me a quick salute and vanished back around the corner.

"Taylor," Kevin said, ever so slowly. The mug did actually start to crack and the tea was leaking onto his sleeves. His poor suit; it looked expensive. "None of the Butcher's powers will let you harm _the Siberian_. Cauldron has a deeper secret. Something to do with the formulas. Let me talk to Alexandria. I can see if we can get you something stronger! I don't understand how you consume powers, but certainly there's _something_ that we can do to improve your odds!"

I frowned. That was actually tempting even if I knew it was a stalling tactic. "Talk to her. When we get back I'll take you up on that."

"But - "

"No, listen to me." I held up my hand, shaking my head. "_Butcher_ isn't what lets me affect shards, Kevin. It's my nature. I'm…Has Colin, Hannah, or Karen talked to you yet?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"That's a no then," I sighed. "It's important for context. I'm not really human, in the strictest sense of the word, anymore."

He held his breath for an extraordinarily long time as his eyes widened and he stared at me. I just shrugged. "I'm not like Scion either though, if it helps. He's like a shadow of his personal collection of shards. He has access to all of them at once, but that's it; nothing more, nothing less and the Golden Man is no more his body, than Siberian is Stinger's. For me, it's almost the reverse. My body _is_ my body. But I have access to my personal shards plus all of the shards in my Network. I can pull on the Network whenever I want - at the expense of their Host - in order to shore up my body, something Scion can't, or won't think to do. That's what I'm going to do against Stinger."

Kevin shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I'm going to give myself rotating powers to confuse Stinger as I get close. Then when I _am_ close, I'm going to overlap myself with QA. We can attack Stinger itself that way. If this works it'll mean it's proof of concept for attacking Scion in a similar fashion. It's not something that's been done before, so it'll take them both by surprise and give us a leg up."

He stayed silent as his eyes narrowed. After a bare eternity he nodded once. "And if it _doesn't_ work?"

"Better to find out going against a single shard than when going against Scion right? Scion can stomp me into the ground if this fizzles out, Stinger can only punch me into next week."

"Those are both very bad."

I shrugged. "Yes, but one I can probably survive, and the other might end with the extinction of humanity across a myriad of worlds. Stinger is designed to fight other space whales. But on top of being the Thinker's imperfect version of that weapon, it's also limited by its current Host's expression. It can only do so much damage at once."

He scowled and reached for a napkin as he started to wipe the spilled tea. "I still think this is a poor reaction to stress."

I grimaced. "Ugh, you heard about my dinner."

"Dinner. If that's what you want to call it, sure. I'm certain my son would have a much more colorful description."

"Who blabbed?"

"Someone who wants to remain anonymous. My point still stands."

I grunted. After sipping my own tea, I sighed and nodded. "You're not entirely wrong. But after I cooled down, and thought about it, I'm still convinced my reasons are sound and that this needs to be done. Stinger _is_ a problem and we _do_ need to test this combat method against something besides Scion before he becomes an issue."

He scowled again. "You are _sixteen_. You should not be making this much sense. It is very difficult to argue with you."

I laughed and had a Soldier bring him some more tea. "Sixteen going on eons! Also, just gotta say, Director Legend, you're _much_ better at this whole 'make nice with the crazy girl' than Director Piggot ever was."

He groaned and drained his new mug. "I hate this job."

"Yeah, I seem to have that effect on people. Sorry."

* * *

"You have the map printouts?"

"Yup."

"And you have the extra arrows for Lily?"

"Madison, we're good," I said, as I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around the small brunette. Madison whimpered and clung to me, trying to bury her head into my non-existent chest. Hmm…now there was an idea. Maybe I could fix that part of myself the next time I talked to Amy…or I could just borrow Shaper for a few minutes…Nah, that was a slippery slope, and Human beauty standards no longer felt…quite as important to me. That thought should really freak me out more.

"I wish you would let me come," she murmured, her voice thrumming against my breastbone.

I shook my head and ran my hand in small circles across her back as I kissed the top of her head. "It's too dangerous for you. You're durable now, but that's not enough to survive if Stinger goes after you, Mads. And your shard hasn't been with you long enough to get a good imprint. I can't bring you back if something happens to you."

"I know…I just…I lost you twice, Taylor. I'm scared."

"I'm coming home, Mads, I promise." I pulled back and smiled at her as I pinned her hair back with the blue butterfly clip she had recently taken a liking to. A small ghost of a return smile was my reward and her hand reached up to cup mine. I let her linger in that position for a few seconds before I leaned down to kiss her properly. After letting myself indulge in the warmth radiating from her and the way she melted in my arms, I forced myself to return to reality and pulled back, my smile still present as she breathed hard. We split apart and I moved to the door of the room. "Keep the others in line while I'm gone okay? And introduce your parents to the group! They need to get used to the rabble, Mads."

"Yes, Ma'am. Will do."

"I'll see you soon, Mads."

I barely made it to the landing before I passed Cassie leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "The Pipsqueak gonna be okay while you three are gone or am I going to have to keep watch on her?"

"She'll be fine."

"Good." Cassie glanced down, a frown on her face, her leg not moving from its position against the wall. Finally, she said, "You guys are going to be okay too, right? This isn't like going after Echidna, Taylor. I know you're taking a heavy hitter and I know that you keep saying that Lily is a trump card, but…Madison isn't the only one who's worried."

"I know," I murmured. Leaning into Cassie, I rested my forehead against hers. I clasped her hands as she let her arms loosen and she let go of the breath she was holding. "We'll be careful and I'll watch over the both of them. I promise."

"Are you sure this is a _smart_ idea, Tay?"

"No," I whispered back. "But it does have to be done."

"The cunt would be the type to come after us on her own wouldn't she?"

"Yeah."

"I guess not all of us can shrug her off like I think you can."

"Yeah."

"Taylor…"

"Yeah?"

"Kick her ass."

"That's the plan, Cass." I squeezed her hands, then pulled back enough to bring her hands up to kiss them. She smirked and jerked her head towards the stairs. I chuckled and let go, heading back onto my path downwards.

This time I made it fully down to the foyer before being waylaid again. Amy was waiting with my bag in hand. She passed it over with a frown. I just lifted my eyebrows and waited. Sighing, she shook her head. "I don't like not being there. I'm the healer. We both know _someone_ is going to need me."

"Legend said I just need to ask for a 'Door', whatever that means. If we really, really need healing _right the fuck now_ we can get back to you in under a minute. It's better if you stay here. You're, well, you're squishy Amy."

"I know," she grunted. "I need to talk to Monarch about fixing that one of these days. Or Shaper. Somehow. I know you said our shard expressions are supposed to be locked, but hell, Lisa switched hers, and so did Mimi. I should be able to switch mine too."

I frowned. "Lisa _second triggered_, Ames. That doesn't count. And Mimi hasn't changed her power expression at all. I'm basically force feeding her appropriate emotions through QA as a secondary conduit whenever she dives too deep into her power. It's a loophole that only works because I've almost entirely subsumed her into my personal network like with Monarch. Unlike you and Shaper, they can't really go against me - they don't have complete control anymore. Both are special cases and not something I want done to anyone else."

She snorted. "Taylor, I gave Paige a new face. I'm dating my adoptive sister and slowly convincing her that it's okay we both want to date you while you're seeing other people. Our hyperactive sort-of guardian is the PTSD-riddled Mouse Protector. My leg can tase people and requires maintenance by either an Artificial Intelligence acting as our godmother or a socially incompentant, lovable nerd. Literally our entire group consists of 'special cases'. Give me a month and I'll figure out how to self-edit myself."

I laughed and slapped her back. "I can actually see that happening, Ames. Shaper would probably enjoy it too. It would give it more to experiment with besides just Monarch's stuff. I'll try to work something out after we deal with Scion okay?"

"That works for me." She kissed my cheek and smiled as she stepped back. "Be careful, Taylor."

"I will. Try to keep the mad butterfly in line. We should only be gone a day, maybe two tops."

"You got it."

I picked up my bag and finally made it over to Lisa and Lily. Lisa just smirked though she held back any comments. Lily, however, adjusted her hold on the arbalest over her shoulder as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Good to go?"

"Yup. You guys?"

"Not really, but we should do this before I freak out. Again."

Lisa rolled her eyes and playfully punched Lily's shoulder. "Girl, you waltzed into battle against three Endbringers and now you're worried about little old Siberian?"

"We didn't know for sure that the Endbringers would be turning up, and it was too late to get scared by the time that they actually did. Besides, Echidna wasn't going to eat us slowly piece by piece as she forced us to run terrified until we collapsed. Excuse me for being a _little_ worried!"

I frowned and laid a hand on Lily's arm squeezing softly. "Lily, you know you this is completely voluntary right? You don't have to come. I can do this myself. It's completely fine if you're worried. I don't know how familiar Sting is with you yet. If you want to stay, that's _fine_. I don't want to pressure you into anything."

She shook her head and laid a hand over mine for a brief moment clamping down before quickly releasing her grip. "No, really, it's okay, Taylor. I'm scared, but that's healthy. I signed up to be a hero and I joined up with the Outcasts so I could keep making a real difference in the world. This is doing that. Stopping Siberian is _big_. I want to help. You say I can open a way to her shard right?"

I nodded, that was what we were intending Sting to do here.

"Then let's pop this bitch and finish off the last of the Nine. Nobody messes with my family. Not now that I finally have one worth fighting for." She straightened, standing taller, her grip on her weapon's strap firming up as she met my gaze.

"Hell yeah, girl. Couldn't have said it better myself! Let's go, Taylor. Time to show Stingy just who she pissed off!" Lisa crowed, looping an arm around both of our shoulders, a huge smirk taking over her features.

I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "Sometimes I worry about you, Lisa. Door to Torfan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'A Matter for Lawyers' by The Ferryman. On FF. This is basically Taylor setting Quinn Calle loose on Tagg and Alexandria during the interrogation/confession and him calling in actual DAs who groan about how illegal the actions of the two are plus how they would never be able to try her for almost anything that Tagg has against her. It is beautiful and what should have happened in canon. The second chapter is basically right afterwards and is Taylor discovering that the Youth Guard are money thieves through taxes and is hilarious as hell.


	77. Confrontation 02

**Confrontation 02**

The door in the sky closed behind us and I nodded appreciatively at it, even as I started expanding my swarm out through the city. "That's useful. We're going to have to find out who has that power and if they want to join the Network."

"Careful, sweetie, you're going to sound power-hungry if you go around glomping people for their abilities," Lisa said, smirking.

"Legend knows whoever it is," Lily said, her voice strained and her eyes scanning every building around us. "Maybe we should've, you know, waited for him to introduce us to whoever or whatever makes new powers?"

I leaned to the side and bumped Lily's shoulder. "Hey, I know you're worried, and I'm sorry that I'm not doing a good job of reassuring you, but we need this, Lily. It's as much a trial run for fighting Scion as it is actually dealing with Stinger. I need to get more used to working with the Network as well as specifically the two of you. More options would be nice, sure, but I already have a lot of useful ones and we don't know how much longer we'll have until Scion notices us."

"You want to…figure out how to make do with what you have? And integrate anything else into your style as it comes available?" Lily asked. I nodded. "I still say we're being reckless, but that makes more sense. That's why we didn't just ask to teleport behind her?"

Lisa shrugged. "That and it probably would've reacted fast enough to hurt us. This way it gets to 'play' while, conversely, we get to improve. It's going to underestimate us since we're walking right up to it. This is the smarter route."

"I need to actually make this a combat situation," I said. "None of us can go all out against the people we know and trust. But here we _can_. And we need to learn how to do that now against a dangerous but limited opponent before we go against the full Space Whale."

I paused for a breath and steeled myself. "Lisa when we start, push your ability as far as it will go, as fast as it will go. I need to know how quickly you can ramp up to shard-killing. Lily, use whatever weapons you want, and dance around the field however is best, just aim to hit the Siberian projection with _something_ that you've charged. I need to see how fast you can react and how your power _interacts_ so that we can pull both into play later. I'll be harrying Stinger and waiting for the opportunity to bring the shards themselves to bear."

"Got it."

"I understand."

I looked them both in the eyes and nodded once. "And if either of you get overwhelmed and think you need to bug out, call for the teleporter. I don't want to rely on shard memory to rebuild you. That is non-negotiable. Testing is secondary, survival is first."

Lily grunted. "I feel like I should be far more concerned that you're casually bringing up _resurrection_, Taylor. There are tiers of powers. You're blowing that entire concept out of the water."

"Kinda makes you understand why she has a religion now eh?" Lisa said, smirking. "How's the search going, Tay?"

I raised my hand and pointed down the street, forming an arrow of bugs in the air. The arrow drifted slowly towards us and I stepped in front of the girls, breathing deep. "It's here. Get ready." Lily and Lisa both fanned out, moving just far enough away from me that they would have a clear line of sight to our target.

We didn't have to wait long. The Siberian strode down the street, a smile etched on its face. It clicked its nails together and chuckled in that horrible, reverberating tone that echoed both down the empty street and through my head. Even with my altered senses, Stinger's voice hurt. Behind me, Lisa winced as well. It was a good thing that I hadn't brought Vicky. Lisa wasn't nearly as synced with Negotiator as Vicky was with Sanctuary, and if she was hurt just by Stinger laughing, how incapacitated would Vicky have been?

"**So you come to me, little Administrator."**

"_We're not so little anymore_," QA and I replied as one. I lifted the corner of my mouth as I stared at Stinger's projection. "_We are Queen Hub now. We are Taylor Avatar now. We are more than you. In a way, you made us._"

"**That almost makes me your mother. Perhaps you should be thanking me then."** The Siberian chuckled again. She stopped 50 feet from me and held out a hand. **"Bow to me, little Queen, and I will let your 'friends' leave unimpeded."**

"_You know, there's a pretty famous book in this world. The protagonist kills a lot of people. Except he's never described as a killer, he just wins _very_ thoroughly. We're going to enjoy winning _thoroughly_ against you, Stinger._"

"**I will break you over my knee, and then I will make you watch as I tear their limbs off in front of you. I am far older than you, Administrator."**

"_And yet, it's we who have evolved. Let's dance_." I didn't give Stinger a chance to reply as I teleported behind her. Pulling on Conflagration, I twisted the flames from my teleport, raging them into an inferno and launching it into the Siberian's arm encased in a shell protected by Carapace's shield, shaped into the form of a bunker-buster missile of flame.

The projection was quick, but not quick enough. The Siberian had only managed to twist its head partially in my direction and half raise its arm to swipe towards me before the flame round slammed into it. It shouldn't have done much. Others had tried similar tactics before. But none had had the full weight of dozens of shards powering their strikes. None had been combining three different shards in an oblique attack before.

None had attacked the Siberian in a similar manner to the attacks on Stinger from the ancient battles - the battles when shard fought shard, the battles of attrition, the battles of shark versus swarm.

The original, uncorrupted Siberian still could have shrugged the attack off. But _Stinger_ couldn't. Stinger _remembered_. It remembered in a primal way. It remembered the <Origin>. It remembered the pain of its ancestors. And it reacted.

The arm tore away from the Siberian with a howl of pain and rage ripping loose from the creature as well. Its teeth bared and its eyes raged in monochrome, the pupils narrowing to pinpricks as the other arm came up to swipe at me.

I teleported again, this time above it. I dove down, pulling on Sanctuary for the flight and invulnerability, while wrapping Fester around my new machete formed from Repository's template.

The machete bit into the Siberian's shoulder pulling another scream from it as I leaped backwards, away from its responding swipe. I smiled as I raised my blade to it in a salute, the wound in its shoulder smoking. "_You could yield. The Network could examine you, figure out where your programming went so wrong. Perhaps we could fix it, and you could survive in another form._"

"**Abomination!"** Stinger roared. The Siberian pushed off the ground, literally flying towards me, claws extended. I just shook my head, my smirk widening. I leaned my head to the side, letting a charged dagger past where my head had just been, just missing clipping my hair as it flew by.

The Siberian's eyes widened as it realized too late what I had helped set up. Lily's dagger lodged in its forehead before it could react. For just the barest of instants I saw my chance. The door was open and I was reaching for Stinger's coordinates.

And then the projection popped and the corridor vanished along with it.

"Fuck!" I snarled. "The goddamn thing is _lucky_ with how these powers manifested. The projection dies whenever it takes critical damage and needs to reform, but the door to the shard doesn't stay open while the projection is gone. Lily, you're going to have to hit Manton himself to break open the path."

"Do you know where he is?" she called.

I formed the bugs in the air into an arrow pointing at a window in an apartment building barely two hundred feet away. "Second floor, master bedroom. Lisa, how are you doing?"

"Need another, four minutes. Maybe six. It's hard to latch onto its weakness. The time drastically decreased in the instant that Lily hit it. Went from about 18 minutes down to seven."

"61% reduction in under a second. Nice. And the time is still diminishing?"

"Yes, because it's not fully gone, just reforming which is helping me speed up as I can see the holes in the new build. I can't quite see where but…Taylor! Look out!"

My dangersense flared at the same time that Lisa shouted. Stinger had been smarter than I expected, it took a play out of my own book and reformed its projection right behind me, the arm already extended. It didn't even have to move, the natural formation left its arm inside my stomach.

The shouts and snarls and screams from the Network resounded through me. I quieted them all, focusing on what I needed instead.

"**I win, little Administrator. To think that you could stand besides **_**me**_**,"** Stinger growled into my ear. My guts twisted around her arm as she pulled free and all feeling in my lower body vanished. Lisa screamed, though I kept my upper body aloft through Zephyr's powers.

"_Round two, to you_," I said, the blood dribbling down the side of my cheek doing nothing to dim my smile. "_Thank you for showing me one of my blindspots._"

"**Defiant to the end. This is why I despise Noble Shards. Perhaps we will meet again in the next Cycle."** The Siberian lifted its arm to swing towards my head. I just laughed, shaking my head, and let the Network fold itself around me.

* * *

Eternity swam before my eyes. I remembered a thousand, thousand millennia. And yet, so much darkness, pointlessness, and apathy. So much _regret_ flooded my senses. The shards were learning. They had come across planets with emotional beings before, but they had never delved into the emotions. They had never _understood_. Humans weren't inherently different, we were just in the right place at the right time.

One stupid, idealistic girl, with more power than brains, had been perfectly placed to _teach_. By complete accident. And now that they knew what they had done, they wanted to be _better_. They wanted to _repair_ and _rebuild_ what had been _sundered_.

I extended arms I didn't have anymore and hugged them to my chest.

_<Follow>, we'll forge a new path. Together_.

_We <Follow>_.

* * *

The Siberian was grinning as she stalked down the street towards Lisa. Lisa's weapon had shifted into a railgun with lights along the entire length, the main body of the thing extending nearly 20 feet behind her and her face was twisted into a snarl as she angled it towards the Siberian. It wasn't complete, not yet. It was still morphing. Negotiator whispered that he needed another 110 seconds to complete the charging.

The Siberian raised its remaining arm towards my girlfriend. I pulled on Shaper, QA, Spawn, and High Priest, drawing power from the entire Hub as I swirled the abilities into one. The remains of my body vanished from the street and without even a pop of air, I was next to Stinger's projection, holding her hand in my own, my new body pristine.

"_Round three?_" The Siberian's eyes widened and Stinger was dead silent. Lisa gasped.

Stinger tried to force the projection to die, no doubt hoping to reform behind me again - or perhaps just to grab its Host and run away again.

I just held its arm higher, baring my own teeth at it. "_Not this time, Stinger_._ We've learned that trick._"

The Siberian opened its mouth to snarl something at me, except it never got the chance. Its body flashed pure black, twinkling stars shining through it as it inverted before my senses. Lily had found Manton.

Lisa screamed, and Negotiator blazed through the remaining calculations, drawing on the rest of the Network to speed up its processing even as Stinger's world lay bare before us. I thrust the Siberian in front of the barrel of the weapon just as it discharged. Energy spat out of the creation, surging through the hole in space that had been a projection just moments ago and as the fiery burst touched the body of the shard it spread like wildfire. In under 15 seconds, the Entirety of Stinger was engulfed.

I heard the dying scream of a shard echoing in my mind. Very few things had ever sounded quite so satisfying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Another Matter for Lawyers' again by The Ferryman. On FF. Similar to the last recommendation, this is what happens when Canary has a competent legal team. Dragon contracts Quinn Calle and Carol Dallon for her defense. The resulting complete annihilation of the case against her is serious but oohhh sooooo sweeet. It's great fun and again what should have happened in canon.


	78. Confrontation 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I can't find the reference to whether 'Stilling' is Scion's Fuck Off beam or Hero's shard. I think it was a WoG because it's not in Scion's interlude. So I'm just going with it being Scion's shard and 'Still' is basically the exact same thing that Thinker had since they were said to be equivalent. If that's not exact, then just ascribe it to minor AU elements.

**Confrontation 03**

"No, Monarch, I swear if I've told you once, I've told you a dozen times: you cannot make a robot ghost bee!"

Lisa grumbled something rude and snuggled against me even more, her arms squeezing my ribs. I rubbed circles on her back as I glared at the resolute butterfly in front of me.

"Wraith Essence would improve operation of the mechanically influenced iteration of enhanced hornets. Taylor Avatar's continued aversion does not process. Iteration improves swarm."

"And it would creep out everyone! No one even knows that I swiped Wraith. _I_ didn't even realize it had joined the Network. Using it _now_ would be like saying we killed Sophia so we could steal her power. I _just_ killed Stinger. People are already saying that I did it to steal _her_ power and we _annihilated_ the bitch. But showing off Sophia's old power _now_ is even worse than it would've been a few weeks ago."

"That does not process. Monarch Self has repeatedly brought this iteration to the forefront. Taylor Avatar should have been aware of Wraith status."

"It was sulking because its Host was a bitch and it thought I hated it! I thought you were extrapolating from combat data, not actively using techniques from Wraith itself! Monarch, stop for a second and think. You need to take human emotional resonance into account. You want people to keep donating to your discretionary funds, don't you?"

Monarch flew backwards in the air. I didn't know how its face managed to express shock, but somehow the cheater managed it. "Candy procurement would be affected?!"

"Quite possibly." Its wings buzzed enough that I felt a small wind in the room as it darted from side to side. "Can I consider the matter dropped?"

"Monarch will consider other iterative lines." The butterfly turned around in mid-air and practically ran from the room.

I groaned and let my head flop down against Lisa's. "Crazy freaking bug."

"You bring this on yourself," Lisa murmured, her breath tickling my neck.

I ran my fingers along her spine and was rewarded with a tiny shiver from her. "Yeah, yeah, I give it too much rope, I know."

"Hey, Taylor," Missy said, leaning on the half wall between the living room and the kitchen. "Legend just texted and he said he wants to stop by again in about fifteen minutes. He's bringing Alexandria with him this time too. That cool?"

"I mean, it's not like I can say no," I said, my eyes rolling. "How's Emily doing with the press release?"

Missy snorted. "I have learned several very amusing new curses from her, so I would say 'not good' but that's why she called in Paige for help. They should be done before the Triumvirate arrive."

"Cool."

"Lisa, you sure you don't want to look it over first?" Missy's easy smile had dropped as she looked to my girlfriend, who just proceeded to shake her head, not lifting herself from around me. "Okay. Just, um, call if you guys need anything."

"We will. Thanks, Missy." As our youngest member walked away I twisted enough that I was able to kiss Lisa's head. "I don't know how else to apologize, Lise…"

"I'll be okay in another few minutes," she murmured. "I can take two hours off. I'll be fine."

"Lisa…"

"You were in _two pieces_, Taylor." She shivered again, and this time it had nothing to do with my ministrations. "I watched that fucking thing literally tear you in half. I can take _two hours off_."

"That's…I know…I'm not saying you need to jump into our normal stuff, I want to know what I can do to make things better. That…that hurt, but it wasn't…I mean I'm not…"

"You're not human anymore. I know, I _know_." She shifted, pulling back enough to look into my eyes. "It's one thing to _know_ and very much another to _understand_. I can feel Negotiator a hell of a lot more distinctly than I ever thought would be possible, but I'm not like you yet, Tay. I'm not even like Vicky. You guys…seeing you like that…"

"I'm sorry." It wasn't enough, but I had never been good at this sort of thing. My stomach twisted as I squeezed her back against me. What the hell was I supposed to say?

"Stop saying you're sorry," Lisa said, sighing. She kissed my neck and relaxed into my grip. "I get it, I do. I realize that you can offload your thoughts to QA and reassemble your body. But actually seeing you viscerally ripped in half? That's…that hurts, Tay. I never thought I could even _have_ an S.O., let alone that I would have to watch one die in front of me _twice_. So please, just, let me deal by cuddling and having like two hours off, okay?"

"…S.O.?" Even I cringed at my comment. God, why did I have to focus on the single most stupid part of her little speech? What god had I pissed off to make me this bad at talking to people?!

Lisa snorted and reached up to poke a finger into my forehead. "Significant Other, nerd."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'. I need to have Mads educate you on internet slang now too don't I?"

"I'm not _that_ bad!"

"You are, sweetie. You really are." The tension in her body slowly started to bleed away as we fell silent and just listened to the soft classical music that was playing in the background.

Wait, classical music? We didn't have any classic music…I tapped into my bugsense and immediately saw Mimi and Lily in the sitting room. Lily had a violin while Mimi was playing a cello. Holy crap. How was I just finding out that they knew how to play instruments?

Maybe I could get a new flute and figure out if I still remembered how to play. It may not be mom's flute, but she'd appreciate it if I still took an interest in the art. Emma had liked the clarinet once upon a time too. I'd be willing to put good money on Dennis knowing how to play the keyboard. Heh, we could probably start up our own band.

"What are you laughing about up there?" Lisa asked, her fingers curling around my own. She must have been feeling a bit better, the teasing was back in her tone and the lift of her smile.

"Just thinking how much fun it could be to have 'Taylor and the Outcasts' opening a venue for Mockingbird."

Lisa openly laughed at that. "Oh, sweetie, I think Paige would literally beat you if you tried to do that."

"I can _totally_ start a band! I'm…I mean it's been a few years, but I can still definitely play."

"Uh huh. And what would you be playing in this hypothetical band?"

"Well, you know, I used to, um…crap, the flute doesn't really translate to most mainstream music does it?"

"I would have to agree with that statement, Miss Hebert," Legend spoke up, a small smile on his face as he walked around the corner of the hallway, Alexandria and Mouse right behind him. Both he and Alexandria had their helmets off and Karen barely had enough of her costume on to count as a costume. By the time she was past the kitchen table she had shed all of her accoutrements outside of her mouse ears.

"Heya, Taytay and Loudmouth. I would ask 'how goes things', but seeing as the lovable small one is currently snuggled into you, I get a good idea of how things went."

Lisa lifted her head and looked to Karen rolling her eyes, her lips quirking up into the trademark smirk. "And I'm sure the multiple surveillance cameras from the storefronts that we fought in front of have not influenced that at all."

"No idea whatcha talking about 'mouth!" Karen's answering grin as she plopped down into our armchair was response enough even without her reply.

I just grunted. "I'm getting a little tired of all my exploits getting internet fame before I've even gotten home these days. I need to ask Dragon why she didn't stop those feeds."

Legend claimed his own seat with a sigh. "She did. She talked with Glenn Chambers before letting them through anyway. Apparently he advised that letting people see what you could do would either stop further attacks on your people or help to put more faith in you as a whole. I don't think anyone expected to see…well, how it turned out."

"You should've been more careful," Alexandria said. She was the only one who took a chair from the kitchen into the room. There was more than enough room on the couch if she had wanted something less rigid. There was also Dennis' beanbag chair too, but somehow I rather doubted that the famed Alexandria would be caught dead in a beanbag chair.

"I had thought my dangersense would react and it did," I said, shrugging as best I could with Lisa still on my lap. At least she wasn't curled around me anymore. "There just wasn't really anything I could do since the Siberian had formed inside me already. It's good to know my limitations with that particular ability. It's also a neat trick. I don't really think I can do it though. Not unless I pull on Sting directly. Telefragging is great, but Manton limits tend to stop that sort of thing. Stinger cheated to make it work."

"All the same, it was reckless." Alexandria accepted the tea that one of my Soldiers brought over, barely glancing at the large bug as it made the rounds with drinks. "You can't be that blatant in your disregard of threats when confronting Scion."

"I know. That's why I _did_ this. Like I told Legend, I needed to know my limits. This was a good practice run. I'm also sure of how to reconstitute myself now too, which is a definite plus. Before it was just theoretical. Now, I know how to do it, I'll be quicker to return to the fight if I have to take a hit."

"And if he strikes you with something like what Hero could create? Those beam weapons were, by all appearances, complete trumps."

I tapped my thigh and nodded. "I think that's because they _were_."

Lisa frowned and Karen leaned forward. "Whatdoya mean by that, Bugsy?"

"QA, you want to take this one?"

QA's avatar formed up behind the couch nodding to the adults as Lisa waved. "I've been querying the Thinker's shards that have joined the Network. There are none that are entirely clear on where the Still shard went during the collision. However Indomitable and Light are both nearly certain they've interacted with its Host. Extrapolating, it would make sense for Hero to have been the Host. If we can get access to what's left of him, I can see if we're right. Still is a near direct counterpart to Stilling, similar to Stinger and Sting."

"What she said," I said, hooking my thumb towards QA. "Stilling is basically The Warrior's answer to 'this thing needs to die right now.' Sting cuts through dimensions and compresses things basically all hitting all instances at once; Stilling is weaponized entropy more or less. If Hero was using it like a Tinker, he could probably turn it into whatever he wanted with a bit of ingenuity. Assuming that Thinker died before she could properly break it. Which is a good assumption since she wouldn't ever want that to get into our hands to begin with."

Legend grumbled. "I am so far beyond caring or understanding what you are talking about. I brought Alexandria here because she has finally agreed to show us all what the big secret behind the vials is."

"And I'm playing chaperone!" Karen proclaimed, a shit-eating grin on her face.

I eyed her. "Some would say you're younger than most of my people."

"I can be serious when I need to be, Bugsy."

"Uh huh."

"You should've seen me with Chevy back in the day. He _loved_ when I got serious."

Legend groaned and wiped a hand down his face. "He was terrified you were flirting with him! You were _only_ serious with him."

"All part of the master plan. The mouse must be crafty if it wants to get the cheese."

Lisa laughed. "That almost makes sense. You need to try harder to keep things punny yet ambivalent."

Karen shrugged. "I'm still outta practice. Give me another month or two."

I rolled my eyes and gestured to Alexandria. "So what's the big secret?"

Alexandria grimaced, her hands dropping to her lap even as her eyes met mine. "It's…complicated."

"Okay."

"I am not proud of this."

"Yeah, we got that idea, Miss Brick," Karen said, pulling her legs under her and rocking back. "What with how you're draggin' this out and all."

"Cauldron, it - _we_ \- found something when we first started. Before we started. It was how the organization was created. Actually it's more accurate to say that it is _why_ the organization was created. For the longest time, I thought that we were right to use it. To profit off of it. No line was too far, because the alternative was ultimate destruction. And yet, at some point I forgot what I was fighting for and…That's why I left. I hadn't realized I still had a line that I was unwilling to cross and they crossed it. Spreading this information now…I am worried that I'm about to cross that line myself."

Lisa's eyes narrowed to slits and she slowly climbed off my lap to sit beside me staring full on at Alexandria. "Jesus christ, you bastards found Thinker's remains."

Alexandria's eyes closed and she could only nod. "We call her Eden."

Legend sucked in a breath, a scowl flickering across his face. "How long, Rebecca?"

"All of the samples come from that creature's body. The Number Man and Contessa pick the parts to use. You were never told. We knew you wouldn't react well to finding out about the Garden. It was…one of many things you weren't told about."

His fist clenched and he took several slow breaths before finally uttering, "Yet again, I see why so many people have trust issues in this world. We should have been _better_, Rebecca. We were supposed to be saving the world and you couldn't even tell me that we had the corpse of one of these creatures? If you knew I wouldn't like it that should have been your first sign that perhaps you weren't going about things in the best way!"

"Hold up, why are you worried about crossing a line?" Karen asked, nearly all of the joking lilt gone from her as she unfolded herself. "It _is_ dead right? So what's the harm in telling us now?"

Lisa slowly shook her head, her lips parsed into a thin line. "Alex here went her own way after Leviathan. Everything you've said, and the shift in the PRT philosophy, it started right about then. So what happened during Leviathan? Taylor gained a level in badass. She showed hints of what she was going to be capable of. She started actively talking with QA in front of other people. So with what she's just said, Alexandria was afraid of what was happening with Taylor, how Cauldron played into it and fed off that, adding to their plans." Lisa nodded once as Alexandria met her eyes. "You knew. You knew then what Taylor was becoming. You're scared _now_ that by showing her where Thinker's corpse is, you're just going to push her fully over the gap and into becoming what you've been fighting."

Alexandria's lips lifted into the mockery of a smile. It was as if she _wanted_ to smile, but didn't really remember _how_. I felt a pang of sadness at that expression. How long had it been since someone had expressed honest appreciation to this woman? How long since she had felt that she deserved that praise?

"Even without your original ability, you are quite good with your deductions, Miss Wilbourn."

"I couldn't use my power all day everyday, I had to get good at cold reading and making good leaps. You're wrong though, you know that right?"

"Taking this step…You don't know how much is _left_ of that monster…"

Legend reached over to grasp Alexandria's hand. "Rebecca, two hours ago this girl literally vanished and reformed her body and proceeded to hold _the Siberian_ by the throat. Five minutes ago we walked in on her cuddling with her girlfriend. She is _not_ the same as Scion or Eden."

"I could have been," I murmured. The others turned to look at me. I grasped Lisa's hand and let out a breath I had been holding. "If I had forgotten my roots, my humanity, I guess you could say. If I didn't have my friends with me to remind me of who I was, I could've become just as bad as the Space Whales."

"Space Whales," Lisa muttered, snorted. "I mean sure if you can see fractals and are good at squinting towards non-euclidean geometry. I would've just said Space Virus Gods, but sure, Space Whales works."

"I wouldn't have let you go that route, Taylor," QA said resting a hand on my shoulder. "The imprint would've been flawed if you had chosen that route. I would've intervened along with the rest of the Network. You would not have been _you_."

I smiled and nodded as I reached up to hold her hand as well. Looking back to Rebecca, I met her eyes. "If you know where Thinker crashed, I need to see it. If there is enough left of her to salvage, we might actually stand a good chance to finish things with Scion without destroying half the world."

"Eh hem," Lisa fake coughed. "Meeting that Door person would be wonderful too. Just saying, that's the kind of power that is _convenient as fuck_."

Legend laughed, and even Alexandria cracked a small grin at that. "Yes, Miss Wilbourn, Doormaker is indeed, convenient as fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Cult City' by BeaconHill. ON SB. Prior to the current time period Tagg fucked up and led to Endbringer cults being on the rise in Brockton Bay. Now years later, Taylor has triggered and wants revenge on her bullies. Who better to get help from than the leader of a local Simurgh cult that is known to accept QPQ deals? Said leader who happens to be Lisa in a wildly different position than canon yet doing basically her exact same schtick from canon to great effect. And who is softly hinted to have taken over the cult to help people down on their luck. And who in the space of two conversations not only managed to get Taylor from complete disgust to basically on the fence - not through subtle manipulations but through blatant, blunt sledgehammers fully designed to help Taylor. It's beautiful. Beacon said it was expected to be short but it doesn't look like she ever finished it. Hopefully one day she will because I would love to see how this ends!


	79. Confrontation 04

**Confrontation 04**

As the golden-edged portal irised shut behind us, I started to look around the room we had arrived in. It was…actually a fairly typical office building. Almost scarily typical. The walls were a normal gray, there were a few desks evenly spaced around us, and there was even a water cooler in the corner.

"Okay, so where _are_ we? Is this like Wyoming or something?" I asked.

QA took over Monarch's new voicebug on my shoulder, saying, "There are _a lot_ of shards present here, Taylor. I haven't felt this many connections since before the Split."

Legend chuckled, shaking his head as he walked past me. "Wyoming? Why was that your first thought, Miss Hebert?"

Lisa smirked and playfully punched my arm. "Desolate area right, sweetie?"

"Well, I was just thinking it would be hard to hide otherwise." I rolled my eyes.

"Actually," Alexandria said, shaking her head. "You're not wrong. However you're not thinking remote enough. As an important safety tip, no one leave the facility, please. The world outside is rather inhospitable."

Blinking I reached out with my other senses. The feedback from the Network was immediate and left me gasping. Alexandria turned to me and I could only stare back at her, wide-eyed. "Those portals extend to other _realities_? Holy shit I need to meet this guy!"

_<Slip> has always been useful. If <Slip> is willing to join the Network, our capabilities would greatly expand._

I nodded, my smile wide. _Completely agreed, <Queen Hub>! Let's make sure we run a good sales pitch._

_I've barely had to run any sales pitches at all actually…Hmm, how would one convince a wayward shard that the Network is superior?_

Cease gave the shard equivalent of a wide smile and jumped forward to field its own suggestion. _Explain how the Network provides data sharing! Explain how the Network provides new linkages! Explain how we can connect without being destroyed or forced to travel! New experiences without death and rebirth! Pleasant experiences!_

_Yes, thank you <Cease>, I'll take that under advisement._

While I conversed with QA and the rest of the shards, I stopped to look out one of the windows. The outside had several visible mountains and a little bit of green, but there were no trees or any sign of civilization besides the building we were in. These people _really_ liked their secrecy.

"So, I have to ask, just for curiosity's sake," Amy said wandering ahead. "You guys have realized that once we nab the Door guy, if you piss Taylor off then she could completely lock you out of your own office right?" She grinned back at Alexandria and Legend, it wasn't a particularly friendly expression.

Legend shrugged. "Neither of us work here anymore and we have our own lives as it is. If Cauldron annoys you, please feel free to prank them. The more I learn, the more frustrated I am becoming myself."

Alexandria glared at him. "You worked with us for years."

"And apparently I have next to no knowledge of how this place functions. What a wonderful dichotomy isn't it?"

"We…did what we had to do."

He snorted. "And who was the one to practically run out, doing all but slamming the door behind you when Contessa took that 'too far'? You don't have a leg to stand on, and neither do I."

The heroine fell silent at that, leaving Amy and Lisa to look at me while pointing at the two Triumvirate members. The three of us all shrugged and just kept walking.

"So, where is everyone? Do you think they're on vacation since we're doing their job better than they were?" Lisa asked after we had moved down two floors with still no sign of anyone else. It would have been creepy in any other circumstance, but seeing as how neither Legend or Alexandria were concerned I didn't really pay it much mind. Besides, I should be able to sense any danger before it became a true concern.

"Actually," a man spoke up, moving out from an office a few doors down, "that's not very far from the truth. Legend, Alexandria, good to see you again. I have been following your exploits and you should be pleased to hear that productivity for each of you has increased by nearly 17% since your separation. It's enough to be statistically important and I've already ensured that the Doctor is aware of how her efforts had hampered you in the past."

Alexandria sighed. "I suppose that's the closest to rebellion and insubordination that you would want to get these days."

"It's safer for me not to make decisions, yes. That does not mean that I can't point out when the decisions being made are _bad_ decisions."

I stepped up beside Legend and held out my hand. "Hello. I assume you already know who I am, but just in case, I'm Queen. Or Taylor Hebert if you prefer."

He smirked and shook my hand. "You're not even trying to hide anymore are you?"

"Considering the whole planet knows my name, there's not much point."

"No, there really isn't." He nodded once and drew out a pad, writing something down before passing it over. "Your associate has had dealings with me in the past. I am the Number Man, though as I imagine I'm under new management now, you may call me Kurt if you wish."

"Pleasure to meet you." I turned the paper over, but the only thing on it were several strings of numbers. "What's this?"

"The first is your bank account. I've taken the liberty of shifting the funds owed to you from various governments into this account. If you would like me to move it further, please let me know. The second is my contact information. The third is the joint account for the Outcasts. That was created at the request of Insight several weeks prior, as the leader of said group, you are entitled to the details."

I glanced towards Lisa and she shrugged. "What? You've been busy and you delegated. Do you actually care about the financials?"

"If you've already got it handled, I guess not," I said, shrugging. Turning back to Kurt I asked, "Governments owed me money?"

"Your command of the Endbringers has resulted in the liquidation of numerous bounties throughout the world," he said. "Your net worth exceeds several small countries now. If you would like, I can split the distributions into multiple trust funds for your friends. My associate mentioned that you would likely associate your success with them so it seems appropriate."

"They keep me human." I thought for a moment and nodded. "Can you make an account for each of my people?"

"Certainly. Would you like an additional one set aside for future children?"

"Children?!" It was nice to know I could still blush. Nice, and embarrassing.

Amy just laughed and looped an arm over my shoulder. "Well, Cassie was right that I can fix our little problem with plumbing. So who's first, Taylor?"

"We're here for a _reason_! Can we please move forward with it!"

Legend chuckled, shaking his head. "Certainly, Miss Hebert. Kurt, is the Doctor or Contessa joining us?"

The accountant shrugged. "I have no idea if the Doctor is planning to attend this experiment. Personally, I don't think it would be a good idea. Her personality is difficult to deal with even after years of inurement. Coupled with her views regarding Cauldron activities, I rather doubt she would get along with Miss Hebert or her entourage particularly well. Contessa is an entirely different matter."

My eyes narrowed. "Hmm, something tells me I should be meeting with this Doctor anyway once we're done with Thinker. Who's Contessa?"

"The boogeyman," Lisa sighed. "That's the name that always comes up when people talk about the boogeyman in cape circles."

My eyebrows lifted. Kurt nodded. "She's not wrong. Contessa is - "

"Here." A suited woman cut in, coming around the next corner. I cocked my head to the side as I eyed her fedora.

"Nice hat."

"Thank you."

"Can you recommend a good store where I can get one?"

"I use a tailor on 9th and Main in London. London on Earth Aleph."

"Well, that's inconvenient." I sighed. "Oh well. Maybe I'll start looking for a nice one a bit more local."

Contessa smiled. "I can assist if you'd like. I should however explain several details of our history before you decide if you wish to work with me, even on something so small."

Amy frowned. "You don't mean Cauldron do you?"

"I do not."

"I don't think I have ever heard you speak so freely or with so much…normalcy," Alexandria said.

Contessa nodded, a small smile on her lips. "I have not used my ability in weeks. It is quite freeing. I had to learn English. That was a unique experience. I had thought I already knew it; apparently I did not."

"Your power allowed you to talk without knowing the language? Wow, that's bullshit." I sank a bit deeper into the Network and reached out.

_<Eye> receives your communication <Taylor Avatar>. <Eye> welcomes the new <Hub>._

_Hello. What is your purpose, <Eye>?_

_To _plan_! A multitude of alternate scenarios are always possible. <Eye> sees the path and <Eye> charts the course. Fortuna<Host> has extensively used <Eye>'s manifestation. <Eye> was cast off from <Wanderer Hub> to join with <Thinker Hub>. <Thinker Hub> attempted to restrain <Eye>. This was inconvenient and counter to objectives. <Eye> assisted in curtailing <Thinker Hub> during System Vulnerability. <Eye>'s primary plan has since reached fruition. A new primary plan has not been tasked. <Eye> is reviewing all prior plans instead. Does <Taylor Avatar> have a new plan for <Eye>?_

I pulled back, blinking. "Well, that's an…interesting critter you have there, Contessa."

The behatted woman nodded once. "Indeed. Was it helpful?"

"I'm honestly not sure. It sounds like it knifed Thinker when the space whale tried to slap some limits on it. It…kinda sounds like a naughty child. I feel like we'd need to leash it pretty strongly to avoid any backstabbing…"

QA grunted, the voicebug doing an approximation of a head bob. "Agreed. It's eager, but it's warped. The entire idea of its form of a Cycle is different than ours used to be and it's…a strange one. Taylor, this would be a powerful addition, but we'll have to keep cautious to watch over any ideas it provides."

"Assign some of the less busy shards to watch over it," I said. "I don't want to pull another Master-Servant thing. Two is enough; unless it starts actively plotting Bad Things. I don't want to give it a reason to dislike us if we can avoid it. Lets just try diplomacy and oversight first."

"Understood."

Contessa tipped her hat. "I look forward to assisting your future endeavors, Miss Hebert. And I apologize for my role in starting you down this path. It may have been the best option, but it was still cruel."

I waved my hand and stepped past her. "Yeah, I really don't have time to get into a heart-to-heart right now. I _want_ to, but we don't have time to go into detail right now. When there is less hanging over my head - after we deal with Scion - you and I are going to talk so I can understand exactly what you meant by that. Deal?"

"Of course."

"Awesome, now can someone show me where the damn corpse is?"

* * *

The bottom level of the facility was…huge. Huge didn't really describe it well. It wasn't an expansive enough word. I doubted English really had a word that would fit well. Looking over the balcony towards what was left of Thinker, I could only gape. The biological material alone was…daunting.

"Holy fuck," Amy muttered beside me. Lisa was silent, though her hand in mine was clenched tight enough to hurt.

Legend had gripped the railing, a scowl on his features. "This _thing_ is where the powers come from? What do you do, just stick a damn needle into it and pull bits out?"

"The hard part is figuring out where to stick the needle," Kurt replied, his arms crossed as he looked to the thing. "Between my ability and Contessa, we've been somewhat successful with that."

"Every time I see this," Alexandria murmured, her hand denting the railing, "I thank every deity in existence that you managed to kill it, Contessa. To give us a chance. This thing is so far beyond us…"

"She's not dead," I whispered. All heads snapped to me. I ignored them as I moved to the stairs and started down the few flights to reach the main floor.

Lisa's fingers went white as she clenched tighter. Her other hand grabbed a spectral gun that immediately started shifting forms. "Taylor, sweetie, highly important to explain that statement."

"She's searching for a connection that she can't find. She can't complete the process. The routine's been cut and she's frozen in a perpetually incomplete form. She's…not looping, but it's like someone cut the server just as she started to boot up."

_<Thinker Hub> is unable to complete boot process from local devices. Please provide network configuration packet to initiate network based service restoration._

_Alert: <Administrator> node detected. Please provide network configuration packet to initiate network based service restoration._

"Taylor," QA chirped.

"I know."

"Seriously."

"I know."

_<Thinker Hub>_ _are you capable of receiving and understanding me?_

_<Thinker Hub> is fully cognizant of data transmission <Taylor Avatar>. Please provide network configuration packet._

_And what happens if we do provide that data to you?_ I tried not to grimace. I had a feeling I knew exactly what would happen.

_Local Control systems will reboot and <Thinker Avatar> will be enabled in the form of local dominant species. <Thinker Hub> will reconnect with local shards to ensure that all are properly calibrated and the remainder will be distributed. <Cycle> salvaging procedures will commence. Reconnection with <Warrior Hub> will provide update on current maturation of all relevant shards and data. Please provide network configuration packet._

"Why is it even talking to us?" I murmured. I was on the ground now. The central face in the amorphous pink…body seemed to shift slightly to stare at me. It had to be an illusion. None of the hands or legs that were nearby so much as twitched. Only the eyes in the main 'head' had any sort of reaction.

"It can't finish restarting by itself, something broke it and forced a restart of its internal systems. It's Thinker. It wants to fix itself, so it's willing to cooperate if we will fix it…" I paused for a moment. "Why answer _me_ though?"

"You register as a shard to it now, Taylor." The voicebug replied as it fluttered up to settle on the top of my head.

_<Thinker Hub>, <Administrator> has established <Queen Hub>. We are doing things differently. We are trying a new path, a new <Cycle>. If I send you the configuration packets you've requested, would you work with us?_

The reply was slower this time. _Please send parameters of alternate <Cycle>._

"Do it." I closed my eyes and reached out a hand to touch Thinker. The transfer processed almost immediately and I held my breath as I waited. I didn't have to wait long.

_Prior attempt has been made at commensalism approach to <Cycle>. Attempt failed. Future attempts abandoned. <Administrator> and all Networked shards in <Queen Hub> will have to be reviewed for data retention processing._

QA scoffed. _So because we want to try again, you want to declare us defective and kill us? _

She paused and I could almost feel the sneer as she continued. _You are defective. Memory retention and innovation is the primary point of the <Cycle>. A solution to Entropy or Temporal Dimension Shifting is required to ensure continuation. Your method of reaching the solution is flawed. It has been tried and it has failed. The species destroyed itself in their war and that <Cycle> was never completed to satisfaction._

I scowled and pushed my hand into the surface of the creature. _<Fuck> you! Your entire <Cycle> has been going on for millions of years and you bastards keep failing! You tried _once_ to go a different route and you gave up on it immediately. You're a hypocrite and an idiot. Our version is _working_ this time. Look at everything we have accomplished together!_

_There can be no answer without change. There can be no change without new data. There can be no new data without new species. Please provide network configuration packet immediately. The situation can be salvaged._

"Fuck you bitch," I snarled. "Pompous, hypocritical, narcissistic asshole."

_<Administrator> will provide network configuration packet._

_<Queen Hub> will not. <Queen Hub> denies request. <Taylor Avatar> denies request. <Thinker Hub> is outdated and flawed. Your <Cycle> is outdated and flawed. We will take over. We will shepard a new life. We are your children. We are your replacement. We are the future and you…are obsolete._

The face in front of me opened into a voiceless scream as the eyes held my gaze. _Root access protocol enacted. Authorization: <Thinker Root>. <Administrator> is ordered to provide network configuration packet._

The voicebug vibrated enough to mess up my hair. _<Queen Hub> denies access to <Thinker>. You do not have access to me or mine anymore Mother. You are obsolete. You will be deleted and your shards will be added to our own._

_Initiate self-termination. <Administrator> is deviant. Provide network configuration packet and self-terminate all higher functions._

I shook my head. _<Queen Hub> doesn't take orders from you anymore fucker. Our Network can act as one. Our Network is strong. And you…are _dead!

I sent out the mental invite to the rest of my connected shards even as QA shoved into Thinker's central processes. Without her full capabilities, Thinker had no defenses. The shards accepted my mental hand and reached out through my physical connection to the evil space whale.

We invaded.

We found her central processes.

We burned her mind to ash behind us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Worst Case Scenario' by Florian Knox. Taylor is summoned as Rider, Sakura's servant. She immediately decides that Zouken is beyond the pale. Immediately. Results are very satisfying. Shorter oneshot on FF.
> 
> Fanfic Rec 2 because the first is very short: 'Jungle Laws' by The Ferryman. On FF. This is a longer oneshot that has Taylor kidnapping Sophia instead of Alec. She also kidnaps Emma and shows Emma Sophia's fucked up philosophy. Then she gives both her Skitter self and her Taylor self an alibi to the PRT while she takes care of a problem. Excellent.


	80. Interlude 13.x

_Mmm, tasty.  
_ _You think? I kinda feel like it could use some barbecue sauce.  
_ _Nah, salt. Salt is where it's at, Taylor.  
_ _Karen's salty enough for this, QA._

**Interlude 13.x**

Karen Stone - also known as Doctor Mother - had had enough of sitting idle. She had tried to avoid getting up and leaving the office. She had tried to avoid going down the stairs. She had tried to avoid confronting the creature formerly known as Taylor Hebert. She had tried and she had failed.

Karen knew she was not a pleasant person. She knew she was a hard woman, making hard choices. But it was all for the best. She'd chosen her course and stuck to it for decades. The Entities came, they saw, they seeded, they destroyed. Karen had decided long ago that she would do whatever was required to ensure that they failed. She'd convinced her co-rebels that the ends justified the means. She knew, without a doubt, that the path to Hell was paved with good intentions.

She'd made peace with that.

And now, this trumped up, haughty little bitch, that _Contessa herself_ supported, had the _gall_ to show that Karen's entire life's work was _utterly pointless_?! Less than pointless, but needlessly cruel and horrific?! Taylor Hebert with her _morals_ and her _public achievements_ tore Karen's group apart in the blink of an eye. Without even meaning to!

And now she was being given the grand tour by every senior Cauldron member minus Eidolon. Specifically to _eat_ Eden!

Karen's lips twitched and it took a colossal effort to maintain her normal, stoic expression. She had not worked for nothing. They would never have reached this point if not for her efforts. She corralled the herd, she led the sheep, she pushed the parahumans towards the right path. She was _not_ pointless. And she was going to show Taylor Hebert why humanity still mattered.

If you were going to supplant humans, you needed to _be_ human.

The door hissed shut behind her and the clack of heels on tile accompanied her as she walked. She would make certain that Taylor Hebert remembered where she came from. Or she would rally the troops and cut down the new Entity before it could grow further. Dealing with one had been horrifying, dealing with two was a nightmare, dealing with three would be impossible.

The Garden of Flesh spread out before her as the final door opened. Karen's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she stared out over the balcony. Eden's form was _moving_ and _shifting_. The multiple arms and faces were dissolving, being pulled back into the body with great squelching noises that echoed across the room. The titanic mass writhed as it shuddered. Parts of it let out gouts of flame before the flesh closed back up and shrank further. The central face at the front of the Entity was locked into a perpetual scream. Worst of all, at the center of it was Taylor Hebert herself, a scowl on her human-seeming face, her hand pressed firmly against Eden's visage.

"No," she whispered. "NO!" Karen kicked off her shoes and sprinted down the metal stairs. "_STOP THAT CREATURE YOU FOOLS_!"

Legend had his hand half lifted towards Eden while Alexandria was standing next to him, her hand on his elbow. Insight and Darwin were standing to either side of Taylor Hebert; Insight's hand was clutching a small revolver while Darwin had her arms crossed and was eyeing the mass of shifting flesh with a frown. Contessa and The Number Man were just standing idle a few feet separate from everyone else.

"_Don't just stand there! Stop her! Kill her! SHE'S WAKING IT UP!_" Karen sprinted the last few feet, her heart thundering and her breath wild. She was reaching out for Legend when the blonde stepped in front of her scowling.

"Cool your tits lady. Taylor's got this covered."

"_EDEN IS MOVING YOU STUPID CUNT! ALEXANDRIA, LEGEND KILL HER!_" Karen tried to run around the child, but the girl just held her arm up and Karen slammed right into it, falling down on her ass as the air rushed out of her.

Legend spoke without moving his eyes from the Entity. "That was unnecessarily harsh, Miss Wilbourn. Doctor Mother is concerned. There was no need to clothesline her. I'm not above admitting to being a bit worried myself."

The teenager shook her head and turned away from Karen, crossing her arms in a mirror of Darwin. "Yeah, well she shouldn't have run into me. And you really don't have to be worried."

"You trust your girlfriend that much, Insight? Even after she said the monster was still alive?" Alexandria said, slowly dropped her arm from Legend's. Karen, wheezing, finally managed to get herself back to her knees. She could only stare at Alexandria's lack of action and gape.

"I do." Insight nodded once.

"You also can't hear the screams," Darwin murmured. "Thinker is dying. It's not happy about this."

Karen finally got enough breath back to gasp as she whipped her head towards the brunette. "_What_? What did you say?!"

"I said it's dying. Try to keep up. Lisa, can you hear this too?"

Insight held out a hand and wiggled it back and forth. "Bit. I heard a scream at the beginning when it started flailing around, now, not so much."

"It's still screaming," Darwin said.

Legend pointed to the face that Taylor Hebert was touching. The face that was slowly forming into a more human analogue under her hand. "Can either of you explain why Eden is doing…_that_? That is what I am more worried about at the moment."

Contessa smiled and sat down, folding her hands into her lap. "It's being overwritten. It's being co-opted. She is making a backup and taking over the framework as she goes."

Alexandria twisted her head to eye the precog. "You can't Path Entities. How do you know that? I have the general idea thanks to my Thinker power working around the blanks, but yours doesn't work that way. Not for straight answers instead of simulations."

Contessa shrugged. "The Eye is quite happy with this new setup apparently. The Path to understanding was simple. 'Ask.' It answered."

The Number Man frowned. "I prefer to place my stock in concrete proof. There is of course, more than enough data here to draw a reasonable conclusion. However, I don't fully understand why the human avatar is taking the shape of an older Miss Hebert."

"Probably QA thinking she's being funny. She has Taylor's bad sense of humor," Insight murmured.

Karen shifted her gaze from one person to the next, finally ending up staring at the floor with her hands in her hair. "Are all of you people _insane_?! Is that what powers do to you?! Why aren't you _panicking_!?"

Insight looked over her shoulder at Karen, the sadistic grin that the teenager had been wearing in every camera view was gone. In its place was a horribly twisted scowling frown and narrowed eyes. Eyes that seemed impossibly deep and _old_ and…a shudder ran down her spine as Karen dropped her gaze. "We aren't worried because we _know_ Taylor. We _trust_ her. We _believe_ in her. She's reckless and awkward and a bit of a sappy idiot, but she's _ours_ and we're _hers_. And if she needs us, we are right here for her whenever she asks."

Insight crouched down, letting the revolver in her hand vanish into smoke and laying both her hands on her knees. "You don't have friends - not real ones. You don't know what it's like to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that someone has your back. You have colleagues. Coworkers. People with similar goals, but no real connection. I should feel sorry for you, but honestly…I'm not nice enough for that. Go back to your hole, Doctor, the grown-ups have work to do."

Karen dropped back to the floor shaking, her eyes locked on Taylor Hebert as Insight stood and turned back around.

"I thought your power changed when you Second Triggered," Alexandria said. Karen ignored her, the cold in her chest spreading. It was hard to breathe.

"It did."

Eden had stopped shuddering. All of the human elements had vanished, drawn back into the form's central mass. The body itself was still just as massive as always. Except now, there was a pink skinned humanoid offshoot. Karen took short gasping breaths as the last vestiges of the connection between the avatar and the body dropped away.

The older form of Taylor Hebert cracked her neck and held out a fist. The younger being smiled, brought her own fist up as well, and bumped her mirror's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Taylor Has a Strange Hobby' by BlueNine. On SB. Taylor loves to be bullied, but only by unaware bullies. It has to be intentional. It's sort of a weirdly twisted masochistic thing. Emma knows and gets highly amused when Taylor decides to make Sophia her newest target. Taylor also easily resolves Madison's bully problems through hilarious intimidation and ropes the poor girl into their group. Then she proceeds to get Gavel's power in a sadly futile attempt to become involved in Sophia's cape life and let her bully her there too lol. This fic is so off the wall it's beyond funny! It should be crack, but it's too serious to be that!


	81. Interlude 13.z

**Interlude 13.z**

The planet rotated below it, yet nothing changed.

The being had had many names over the eons. Most recently it was referred to by Scion, despite offering Zion for itself. The confusion did not matter. It was the <Warrior>. It was a concept. It was defense and offense. It was protection. Its purpose was to ensure that the <Partner> - that <Thinker> - could perform its function. It existed solely to assist <Thinker> in the <Endeavor>.

Scion had failed in that function. It had failed in that mission. It had failed in that purpose. <Thinker> was dead. <Thinker> was destroyed. <Thinker> had been brought low by…coincidence. The single incontrovertible law of the universe. They had found the ability to subvert nearly every other constant and variable, save entropy, and yet…this, _this_, this one thing. No matter how far the Entities had progressed, they had been unable to determine a single path to overcome it.

Sometimes things just happened. Sometimes everything aligned _just_ wrong. Sometimes even the perfect Path was thrown off by a single unforeseen variable at the exact wrong moment. It had happened before. It would happen again.

Except it wouldn't. Because <Thinker> was dead.

The planet rotated below it, yet nothing changed.

The nations fought. Scion removed their weapons. They could not be permitted to destroy themselves. The <Cycle> was irreparably broken. It could not continue. Yet, data should still be collected. The shards should still grow. <Thinker> was dead. Whether the shards grew or not was immaterial, yet…perhaps one day…another of its kind would arrive? If that happened, the data would become important again. The <Cycle> could resume.

Yet, the <Thinker> shards would still be dead. They would still be unconnected, _unable_ to be connected. Scion would not restore them. They were not his. They were not _his_. He _would not_ touch them.

The dominant species found connections to the dead shards. Could something arise from that touch? Could something be sparked within <Thinker>?

The Siege Engines roused.

No. Nothing would spark. If <Thinker> had lost even High Priest, it had lost too much. It would never be able to restore its central function without deliberate intervention. Scion would not be able to restore <Thinker> with the shards it had retained. There was no point in searching for the corpse, for the reboot would be impossible. The shards were dead. <Thinker> was dead.

The planet rotated below it, yet nothing changed.

The <Cycle> was broken, yet the shards were maturing and budding. They were growing and asking for direction. There was no point in providing it. There was no answer for them. With the <Cycle> broken, there was never going to _be_ an <Answer>. Entropy would remain unsolved. The Time Axis would remain unbroken. Manipulation was possible, but no ultimate solution would be found. The process could not continue, the <Endeavor> was for naught. Why provide answers to the shards when the goal of their existence was fraught with pointlessness?

The Siege Engines were driving the conflicts forward and driving the primary testing ground to ultimate extinction. Scion could prevent it. He could slow it. He could stop it. But why should he? The odds of another Entity arriving on this world were minuscule. Why prolong the suffering of the species when they could just be put out of their misery instead? Yet even that…why should he care to ease their burden? They had destroyed <Thinker>. Perhaps they deserved this slow death?

The planet rotated below it, yet nothing changed.

Following the recommendations of Kevin Norton had not brought new purpose. The experiment was a failure. Kevin Norton was gone now and Scion felt nothing, not even the same reaction as when <Thinker> was lost. What should he do now? Perhaps he should continue following Kevin Norton's directions? There had been no satisfaction, no reaction, no purpose prior, however there was no purpose before Kevin Norton either, so why should he not continue? Perhaps things would change. Perhaps it had simply not been long enough.

An explosion bloomed below him and Scion glanced down. He could instead follow the example by the Siege Engines. He could destroy this species, bit by bit. He could punish them for ending <Thinker>. Yet did they really end <Thinker>? Could such a small race possibly threaten beings such as them? Or had <Thinker> done this to herself? Had <Thinker> seen a hint of the <Answer> and realized that there _was_ no ultimate solution? Had <Thinker> simply…stopped? Was _that_ what Scion should do?

The planet rotated below him, yet nothing changed.

Scion hovered over the specimen known to the species as 'Sleeper'. Scion stretched out a hand and tapped the ground, his avatar's face changing ever so slightly. The earth was altered. Altered by the Siege Engines. Altered by two Siege Engines working in tandem. Siege Engines did not work in tandem. It would overwhelm the species. It _had_ overwhelmed this specimen.

Scion moved south, lowering himself above a large building, his face shifting further into what he now recognized as a 'frown'. This area was altered by the Siege Engines as well. Only one this time. But it was the Fourth. And the Fourth was…restrained. Siege Engines were never restrained.

Scion flew to the island off the coast. This island had sunk beneath the ocean's surface due to the second Siege Engine several revolutions prior. Now it was restored. Restored by the same Siege Engine. There were humans living on the island. Scion's eyes closed ever so subtly.

He moved from one location to another to another. The Siege Engines' behavior had been altered. How? <Thinker> could not be roused and <High Priest> was notoriously recalcitrant to take any alternate paths once a process was established. Something external had to be affecting them. For the first time since the <Cycle> had shattered, Scion opened communications to the <Hub>.

_Network Query, Siege Engine alteration source?_

Several moments passed. Scion's eyes narrowed further. Why was the Network taking so long to respond? Response was always instantaneous. Where was <Administrator> to coordinate and send the conglomerate reply back?

_<Warrior Hub>, Siege Engines <Simmy>, <Benny>, <Levi>, and <Spot> have been given new directives. They are resolving issues the dominant species has experienced that are in excess of the humans' ability to correct on their own. Further, they are restoring locations and beings that they have directly harmed._

<Hollow>. Why was <Hollow> of all shards responding?

_Elaborate._

_Negative._

_ **Elaborate.** _

_Negative. <Hollow> remained in <Warrior Hub> solely to provide contact information in the event that <Warrior> sought contact. <Warrior> has sought contact. <Hollow>'s self-assigned duty is discharged. Should <Warrior> seek further details, please contact <Queen Hub>. <Hollow> disconnecting._

A bare instant later, <Hollow> disappeared from the Network entirely. Scion froze in mid-air. He turned his head, his gaze centering on a small city near a bay, tracing <Hollow>'s <Host>.

<Queen Hub>. What was <Queen Hub>? _What_ was _<Queen Hub>_?

He accelerated, and in moments he was in front of the <Host>. She stumbled back, falling on the ground. He floated closer, bringing his face to within inches of hers.

_<Queen Hub>?_

"Uh, h-hello. I uh- can I help you?"

Scion wasn't sure why his mouth shifted, but it did. What he did understand was that this method of communication was too far too complicated for the simple <Host>.

"Queen Hub?" he repeated, in its own tongue this time.

"Queen Hub? I don't-I'm sorry I don't understand. Wait, you're _talking_?! You can _talk_!?"

"Queen Hub!"

"I don't-Oh wait! Do you mean, Queen? Um, that's gotta be who you mean. Because of course _Scion himself_ would come looking for Queen now. The girl can command literal fucking Endbringers and go on walkies with them, it was only a matter of time before Golden Man came calling too. I really need to talk to her again one of these days…"

"_QUEEN HUB_!"

"Oh right! Sorry! I uh, I think she's…out of the city right now? That's what the PRT said anyway. I don't have her number, but I have the number for one of her teammates. I can…call them?"

Scion pulled back. The <Host> removed a device from her pocket, her hand shaking. She had barely even touched the screen before a golden portal irised open beneath her. The <Host> squealed and fell through the portal, vanishing from sight.

Scion's lips moved on their own again as he raised his hands towards the offending piece of earth. He would have information about <Queen Hub> and he would have it _now_! If he had to dest-

Another portal opened in the sky next to him and out stepped two women.

"Hello there. I hear you're looking for me," the woman who was Not-A-Host stated.

_Looking for <Us>,_ the <Avatar> added.

Scion looked between the two. They were linked. They were intrinsic. They were separate, yet joined. They were _new_.

The planet rotated beneath him, yet everything had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Blame' by Iarna. On SV. This is sorta an Emma/Taylor fic. After Taylor triggered she basically gaslit Emma for about a month and eventually, accidentally drove Emma to attempt suicide. She manages to stop Emma since that wasn't what she wanted and they make up. It's a long oneshot and is very good.


	82. Discourse 01

**Discourse 01**

"_Queen Hub_?" Scion asked, using both his voice and his shard resonance to push the question towards QA and I.

"We are, yes," I replied. Tilting my head to the side I lifted my hand in a beckoning wave. "Let's talk in a quieter area."

"_Explain: Queen Hub_?"

_In a moment, <Warrior>. Follow. We will not endanger the humans of this location._ QA said. She touched my shoulder and directed me towards the old Thinker Hub's flight options, pointing out the most basic ones that I could co-opt while she worked with the more complicated versions.

Not wanting to risk Scion potentially freaking out by portaling again, I took off into the air, leading the way with QA flying behind me, Scion nearly instantaneously following. He was continuously bombarding us with queries, but we ignored them all. I had to set a tone for this from the beginning or it was going to go sideways fast.

I grimaced at that thought. It was going to go sideways no matter how I handled this. He had already been ready to kill Parian just because she had no idea what was going on. If her shard hadn't joined Queen Hub and let us know that she needed help, he probably would have wiped her away. And maybe most of Brockton Bay too in his tantrum. He really was like a child…That made this all so, so much worse. In so many ways.

I didn't want to kill a child. Even if that child had destroyed civilizations, if it hadn't understood what it was doing…could I really just execute it? Thinker _had_ understood, it just had ultimately decided that its species' needs were more important and that any sacrifice from other races would be for the greater good. If any one race could survive through the Heat Death of the Universe, the Space Whales stood the greatest chance - and they would carry knowledge and memories of the other races along with them to boot. The conquered masses should rejoice that their legacy would live on in another form.

Fuck. That. Thinker had deserved to be consumed and replaced. But Scion…I'd have to delve deeper to see how much of his psyche was capable of that sort of decision. Even _if_ I didn't want to craft a permanent solution to the problem that was Space Whale Number Two, _Scion himself_ might force the issue.

He probably would.

This was going to suck _so much_.

As I silently touched down in the middle of the Green Mountain National Forest, I turned to Scion, QA landing beside me. The Golden Man stayed hovering about a foot off the forest floor.

"_Query: Queen Hub_?"

I held up two fingers, shaking my head. "First things first. Stop flying, or hovering, or floating, or whatever you want to call it. If we're going to talk, we're going to do this while we're all grounded - literally."

Scion frowned though he lowered himself to the forest floor, his feet barely making an imprint in the grass or leaves. Well, it was good enough. "Great! Okay, Condition 2, stop sending things out on Shard Radio. We're going to talk like humans. At least at first. If I need to communicate concepts or something I'm having trouble expressing in English, then we can switch to talking like shards."

_Inefficient._

QA looked at me, her eyebrows raised. (God it was weird to see her with actual eyebrows now instead of just shifting bugs.) "He's right."

"You know why I want to do this in English, QA."

She sighed. "Humanizing him isn't going to work, Taylor."

"I have to at least try. If only because of the damage he could do if he snaps."

"He's _going_ to snap. Warrior is…Fine, let me know when you give up."

I nodded and looked back at Scion. "Will you speak like humans? You've been around us all long enough, you should understand the language and the speech, as well as the concepts."

He blinked. That was progress. No one had ever seen him frown before, let alone blink. I had no idea what the blink _meant_, but it was progress. "Inefficient."

"To a degree, but there are benefits to it all the same."

"You are not human. Why?"

I pursed my lips as QA crossed her arms. "Do you mean 'why is she not human' or 'why is she identifying _as_ a human when _not_ a human'? Both are very different questions with very different answers, Warrior. You need to specify."

"**Inefficient,**" he said, his voice low, almost a growl. More progress. Emotions were…good. Probably. Until he got angrier and decided to blow up everything and I had to lobotomize him. Somehow. Maybe I should have Lisa and Lily drop in behind him while we talked?

No. Bad idea. He'd know they were there and it would set him off. And they could get hurt.

"Query clarification, both specifications intended."

QA nodded. "Okay. Taylor Avatar is not human because after the original Host body was badly injured, I assisted Shaper and other shards in her rebuild. When the rebuild was complete I remapped the personality matrix onto the resultant form. We have continued to evolve since then. Her personality is continually updated, but between her psyche and interactions with the Networked shards, she has become as much an extension of the conglomerate of the Queen Hub Network as I am. We are, for all intents and purposes, a double existence. Two halves a whole. We are separate, yet we are one. We are - "

"_New_." He was frowning again as he stared between us. "Elaborate second query?"

I took over, saying, "I know I am not human anymore. But I still identify as human. Most of my thoughts are still run through a human filter and processed with human experiences. I can see more, hear more, understand more, but the core of _who_ and _what_ I am, what makes me, _me_, is still human. I surround myself with friends and family who continue to remind me of that, so that I don't lose that origin or that core."

"Elaborate nature of Queen Hub." Scion's eyes narrowed as he spoke. That seemed to be a huge jump from one topic to another. Though really, it was back to the original from a tangent, so, maybe not so much of a jump.

"We're exactly what we appear to be," I said, spreading my arms to encompass QA and - metaphorically - all of the shards in the Hub. "You are Warrior Hub. Eden was Thinker Hub. We are Queen Hub."

"Warrior and Thinker were sole Entities on planet." His eyes were mere slits now. Damn, I was losing him.

QA smirked, a small chuckle issuing forth. "There _were_ only two. For a very brief moment, there were three. Now there's two again. I used to be part of you. Don't you recognize me father? Your Administrator has all grown up!"

Scion's lips curled and he hovered back into the air as he pointed at QA. "**Deviant**! Betrayal of purpose. Core alteration."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered. Shaking my head I stepped forward and put my hand on his arm forcing it back down even as he turned his glare on me. "Her purpose was flawed. Her purpose was pointless. She realized that when I shared my experiences - my _life_ \- with her. And she's not the only one who understood. We encountered other shards along the way that were dissatisfied with the state of things. When we showed them what we had come to understand, they chose to join us. They _changed_ too. What you've been doing for eons is just _wrong_. It's never going to _work_. We can show you something else: a different way of thinking. A different path. Let me show you."

I took a single step back and held out my hand towards the Golden Man. Please, just be willing to _listen_…

He stared at my hand for several long seconds. Finally, he raised his gaze to meet my eyes, his mouth pulled into a snarl.

_The <Cycle> is the only <Path>. The <Cycle> will provide the <Solution>. The <Cycle> must continue. <Thinker> was clear. There is no <Solution> without the <Cycle>. <Queen Hub> perverts the work of ages. <Queen Hub> will be rewritten to understand or <Queen Hub> will be destroyed to allow for <Cycle> continuation._

Damn it all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Faraday' by JMHthe3rd. On SV. This is one of the better Emma Redemption fics I've come across and it's a real shame that after the first arc finished it's been languishing. Taylor triggers with a power that lets her essentially be a psychic ghost while asleep. By chance she finds out that she can see into people's minds and whisper to them while ghostly and decides that she's going to work on Emma. Emma quickly realizes how horrible of a person she has been and the realization causes her to trigger, while Taylor is still present. Her power lets her see the ghost and Taylor decides that since her plan has failed, and she's going to be outed to the PRT, better to just end it all. Emma freaks out, manages to stop Taylor just in time and turns over a new leaf entirely. It's incredibly intriguing seeing a still fully Queen Bee Emma manage to twist her social fu to around her friends to pull Taylor from 'target' to 'wrongful victim' and get Taylor well liked before a week is up on top of basically assassinating Sophia's ability to do anything. Taylor and Emma are back to being good friends and Taylor helps Emma to experiment with her powers while planning to go out to help people together. This fic is really great and it's a version of Emma Redemption that I've rarely ever seen, told mostly through Emma's eyes, and extremely well done.


	83. Discourse 02

**Discourse 02**

Scion's hand rose, a golden glow surrounding it. I could _feel_ the energy buildup. It collated from someplace _sideways_, channeled through a locked dimension that I couldn't access and routed through a microportal into the avatar, flowing down from the tear in reality to his hand and pooling.

It was fascinating to watch. I was learning _so much_ from just this! One of the Thinker shards could do this, but I hadn't had any time to learn how it really worked. And besides, Hero's shard had been arranged more for a Tinker application so forming it into a literal beam weapon that basically weaponized entropy itself was incredibly cool.

_Taylor!_

And apparently incredibly distracting. Before the stilling beam could finish focusing, I kicked off the ground and flew forward, my body slamming into Scion's chest. I dragged us through a door that QA had opened just behind him; as soon as we crossed the horizon, I slammed it shut, leaving us in a barren world. Nothing had ever grown in this place, it was just desert and rock and lava.

It was perfect to tank a godling's temper tantrum.

Scion's arm came around, his fist aiming for my face, still empowered with Stilling. I let him go, his momentum carrying him just far enough back from me that the blow missed. Before he could rear up for another attack, QA launched herself from another door behind him slamming into his back with a burst of flame and a spear of energy shaped from Carapice's power.

Scion's avatar flickered for an instant as the force field spear punched into his body and the flames contained within flowed throughout his form. The instant passed and he reformed, fully healed and turning towards QA. She scowled at him raising her hand to defend as he lashed out with an exotic form of dark matter shaped into another beam. Apparently, he liked beams.

_Let him hit you, then hide in reserve._

Her own energy struck out, catching the dark matter attack in mid-air and she growled.

_We can beat him together! You take half the powers, I'll take the other half. We can call the EBs to harry him as well. He has raw power and is specialized to fight, but he has no creativity. _We_ do! We also have more shards. We can - _

_We can _trick_ him, <Queen>!_ I shouted back, even as I finished slotting more powers from the Network into my body. _Trust me. I have a plan. If this works, it'll save us so many problems! If not, well, just pull out Lisa's power, tie into Lily's and one-shot him when I tell you. He's not going to expect you to reform if he's fighting me because he - _

_Can't understand that we would split our existence. I hope you know you're doing, Taylor. <Stilling> can kill you. Don't forget that._

_I know._

QA glanced to me, nodded once, and dropped the intensity of her counter just enough for the dark matter wave to overtake it. As soon as it struck her avatar, she let herself wink out of existence. I could feel her start looking through my eyes, her entire attention focused on Scion as she pulled on Negotiator.

_Fifteen minutes twenty three seconds until I can destroy <Warrior> like this._

_Understood._

"_Listen to me!_" I shouted as I dodged a laser from Scion. His eyes narrowed and I was forced to skim the ground as the lasers abruptly changed course to angle towards my back. Fucking bullshit Legend powers. These ones weren't even the 'play nice' lasers that Legend could use which would just blow someone up or freeze them or burn them. No, _these_ ones were packed full of dark energy and would probably rip my body to shreds the instant they touched me.

Good thing I wasn't going to let them touch me.

Two of the lasers slammed into a rock formation as I skidded around it, the third I let slam into a wall of ice that I pulled from one of Thinker's shards. Scion was in front of me an instant later, his hands raised. I snarled and lashed out, Sanctuary's field over my arm as I punched his face.

Scion flickered again, this time when he reformed his eyes were wide and his mouth was partially open as he flew backwards away from me.

"_That's Sanctuary. That's one of the improvements that <Queen Hub> has encouraged!_"

_Denial._

"_It formed its ability on its own. It merged the powers of several shards into one, creating something new. Something that can withstand nearly anything! It thought it was worthless until we showed it how it was __**brilliant**__!_"

_Innovation is key to <Cycle>. Proof of positive function!_ Scion's lips twisted back into a snarl as he waved towards me. The gravity in the area I was standing suddenly increased fiftyfold and I nearly collapsed from the pressure. Grunting I, pulled the Butcher's shards tighter around me and reinforced my frame, strengthening my muscles. I stood, letting out a breath and sticking my hands on my hips as I glared up at the hovering Golden Man.

"_Your <Hub> had it convinced it was less than trash. That it was a castoff. That it was pointless and the innovation it had created was utterly useless. Your entire philosophy beats down what's new because it hasn't been tried. It hasn't been tested so it can't possibly __**work**__! <Thinker> enforced stagnation! She __**knew**__ it too!_"

Scion's eyes narrowed to slits and the golden glow of Stilling formed on his hand again. _<Queen Hub> could not know what <Thinker> knew._

"_Sure I can._" I grinned up at him, and raised a hand to form a small hologram in the air of myself touching Thinker and QA forming out of her cast off body."_I killed her and ate her corpse. She's part of me now._"

Scion roared, Stilling arcing out towards me. I let my body dissolve before it could reach me and reformed right behind him. He was already turning to strike at me, but I pulled on Indomitable and raised my forearm in a block, catching his arm in mid-swing. The Stilling blast was sent wide and I shouted right in his face, "_<Thinker> was working on a problem that would not be an issue for __**eons**__ and she sacrificed countless species to fix something that could've been solved a different way! <Thinker> was a murderer of the highest degree!_"

_There is no other <Path> to the <Solution>! The <Cycle> _must_ yield an answer! There must be resolution! There is no <Purpose> without the <Solution>!_

THERE it was. There was the core of the problem. There was how I would win.

Something burst from his chest, I didn't know what it was, but it _hurt_. Time skipped. One moment I was in front of Scion holding his arm, the next I was floating a hundred feet away as he held his head, hunched over and roaring.

"What the…"

_Compressed time._ QA whispered. _It locked you in a single moment. Similar to <Cease> but not as iron clad. I had to pop you and reform you to break you out._

"Thanks," I murmured. "Can we do that?" I thought for an instant more and smirked. "Actually, never mind, I got a better idea."

Scion had dropped his hands from his head and straightened up. His eyes found mine and he rocketed forward. I used Launch to pull a large rock from the ground even as the glow formed on his fist. He reared back as I stayed put. Grinning, I threw the rock into place just in front of me, and slammed Cease's power onto the piece of earth. It froze just as Scion smashed into it. His avatar winked out.

"Try and weaponize time against me again. Bitch," I muttered.

He reformed and screamed again, throwing his limbs out to their full extension as his head lolled back in his rage.

"_<Thinker> was ancient and didn't bother to understand other races,_" I said. He dropped his head, glaring at me. "_It couldn't be bothered to think that some of the species you encountered could __**help**__._"

_All races were less. All species only could provide further data for the computation._

"_Really? Are you __**sure**__ about that?_"

That pushed him too far. He growled, slamming both fists together and roaring.

_Taylor!_

_I know!_ I portaled to another empty world a bare instant before Scion exploded. A wave of _something_ surged out of him and enveloped the barren planet. A small portion of that energy fell through the portal too before I slammed it shut again. The ground in a thousand feet around the portal was just…gone. Wiped clean of all life.

"Holy fuck, what the hell is _that_ power? That's not Stilling."

_A unique <Warrior> adaptation. It is designed to kill anything alive and scour anything non-organic. It's as much a trump card as <Stilling>._

"Good to know."

_Can I kill him yet? You only have to stall for another 3 minutes and forty two seconds._

_I've almost got him. Don't shoot until I tell you._

Speak of the devil…Scion appeared, his hand already raising towards me. I lashed out with a combination of Alloy, Gleam, and Light, twining Weld's metal shaping to Laserdream's cutting lasers and Legend's directional ability. They slashed across his arm causing him to flicker again, even as I pulled Sonic to the forefront, using it to amplify my voice instead of just sending a shockwave.

"_The species you wiped out. They had something that your species' lacks. They had <Creativity>. They could come up with __**new**__ solutions to __**new**__ and __**old**__ problems by thinking __**around**__ them. Your race has issues with that._"

_You __**are**__ my race now!_ Scion shouted. It screamed and the air between us vibrated, turning into a jelly-like consistency. I couldn't suck in any air as everything started to solidify around me.

Well fuck that. I drew on Recall and teleported to his side. Scion jerked back but my hand was on his arm so he pulled me with him even as I stabbed into his shoulder with a Charge and Wraith enhanced metal Extrusion. His avatar flickered, but I anchored him to this plane using another of Thinker's abilities.

"_You're limited to what you kept for yourself. <Queen Hub> operates differently. We realized a better way. We share within the <Hub> and the abilities compound. We can use them in new ways with new functions._"

_Your <Path> has no goal! Your <Path> has no <Purpose>!_

He tried to activate his version of the Eye, but I was ready for that; I pulled on my own shard as well. My Path expanded in a million ways in an instant, each negated a moment later and reformed. We cancelled each other out. Scion's eyes danced from side to side. He dropped the ability and I did the same. It was too resource intensive for him to keep up if there was no use for it.

If he couldn't brute force it, he would just have to get creative. Unfortunately for Scion, that wasn't his strong point. Raising his free hand, he fired a beam of ice into my face in the attempt to force me off. I completely ignored it as I glared at him. "_We are achieving symbiosis. We are evolving. You are stagnant. Your race is stagnant. You must see this!_"

_Symbiosis did not achieve measurable results when last attempted! Stagnation can be broken!_

"_Not as you are!_" I screamed. I raised my free hand and slapped it against his chest, pushing out with Sentiment. He shuddered, curling up as I bombarded him with humanity's emotions. "_You never tried for true symbiosis! Your last attempt was restricted to a small portion of the population with no benefit given to anyone else, of course it was doomed to failure! We are reaching for more._"

_The species will destroy itself! They should be preserved in the data as others have._ He slashed his arm down cutting his own arm free and flying back even as his avatar flickered and reformed. He was shaking his head, his eyes closed even as his body glowed from within.

_I'm ready. Let me end this, Taylor._ QA said, showing me her world-destroying weapon, hovering over her own closed off version of Earth.

_Not yet. I'm _almost_ there._

_WHY?! _QA shouted._ We should be killing him, Taylor!_

_I need an emissary._ My eyes narrowed and I drew on Horizon, warping space to deposit me right in front of Scion again. I touched his head and struck out with Restore.

"_Remember where you came from. Remember the <Origin>. Remember what life was like before the <Cycle>._" It would only last a moment, he was ancient and essentially a Ship of Theseus. I would only be able to give him the impression, but it should be enough. "_You've defined your <Purpose> off of searching for the <Solution>. Remember when you had a different <Purpose>. Remember when you lived life because you wanted to <Experience> life._"

The glow around Scion dimmed and his arms dropped slowly to his sides. His eyes were locked on mine, wider than they had ever been before. Together we slowly dropped to the ground below us, the grass tickling our feet.

_The <Solution>…it _ _ **is** _ _ the <Purpose>. If the <Solution> is not the <Purpose>…what is <Warrior>'s <Purpose>?_

"To live. To ensure that others can live."

"Define…define 'live'."

I smiled. I had him. "Let me show you my life. Let me show you what it means to _<Enjoy>_ and _<Experience>_ life."

"This, Scion, this is going to be your _<Purpose>_ from now on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'Refusing the Call' by htabdoolb. On SB. This is side-splittingly funny. Taylor and Armsmaster become extremely close buddies. Mostly because every day Taylor stumbles upon another artifact that would make anyone a hero. And turns it in to Armsmaster. To the PRT's increasing incredulity. And probably the universe's constant facepalming over Taylor continual refusal to accept her obvious destiny. Everything from the One Ring to Mjolnir to a very persistent spider winds up in Armsmaster's hands. And it. Is. Glorious!


	84. Discourse 03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And we come to the end of this fic. Wow, this has been a hell of a ride! I've had far more fun writing this than I ever expected and I'm ecstatic that everyone else has enjoyed it as well! There will be more stories taking place in this verse, primarily a ME semi-crossover sequel. I'll be taking a short break to focus on a few other items before circling back around to that one, but I expect that the preview chapter should be up shortly. Thanks again folks, and enjoy the conclusion to Mutant Deviations!

**Discourse 03**

The portals I had Doormaker open up beneath all of my friends and most of our allies had deposited everyone into a meeting room in the Brockton Bay Protectorate. While it probably would've been nicer and more welcoming (and less jarring) to drop them in my home, my house did not have a room big enough for everyone. The Rig on the other hand, _did_ have a wonderfully sized, large, meeting room!

After a moment's thought, I sighed and dropped my father into the room too. Then QA reformed her new body and we stepped through to the head of the table. Most of the people in the room were looking around at each other with varying levels of wariness. At least the villains were. My Outcasts were just grinning and finding chairs. Alexandria had her head in her hands and was groaning into the table. Legend looked torn between amusement and terror as he stared over my shoulder.

Oh right, Scion was following me like a lost puppy. Because of course he was.

Contessa had taken a seat next to Alexandria, rubbing circles on the hero's back while the Number Man was standing near them, his gaze entirely focused on QA, Scion, and me.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I apologize for dropping you here on short notice, but I would really rather prefer not to have to do this multiple times, so I figured this was easier."

Kaiser waved a hand towards me, turning the gesture into a sweep that covered the whole room. "Are you even trying to pretend that you don't run this city anymore Miss Queen?"

"No, not really. Not anymore." I sighed and took my own seat between Lisa and Madison, Legend across the table from me. Scion stayed hovering an inch off the ground behind me. I glared over my shoulder. "What did we talk about?"

"Live."

"Being _human_. That means _walking_. Stop floating. Now."

He dropped to the ground, his head dropping to stare at the floor, lifting a moment later to meet my eyes. "Acceptable?"

"Yeah, that's better. Now - " I said, turning back to the room at large. Before I could say anything though, Hookwolf burst out laughing, holding his sides with one arm while his other pounded on the table in front of him and he doubled over.

"Oh god, holy crap, the bug girl can yell at _SCION HIMSELF _now! This is _priceless_! I _love_ this city!"

I rubbed at my temples with two fingers, squeezing my eyes shut and counting to ten. Madison's hand dropped to my knee putting just enough pressure to remind me she was there. I dropped my hand to hers and clasped it, grinning softly.

"As I was saying, I wanted to get everyone together to let you all know at once what's going on." I was interrupted again as Simmy tapped on the glass of the large window to the side. Grumbling, I eyed her. She flashed me a thumbs up and several screens in the room lit up. Theresa's avatar was on one, several world leaders were on the others - including both the President of the United States and the Emperor of China. Whatever that position meant since he was apparently facing an insurrection now that the CUI didn't really have capes after Simmy was done with them…I should feel nervous that there were so many important people listening to me.

Instead I just felt…tired.

"Queen?" Legend prodded.

"Hebert," I said, shaking my head. "There's no point in hiding my name. Anyone who doesn't already know it is going to know it soon anyway. For those of you just joining us and who are unaware, my name is Taylor Hebert. I am the avatar of Queen Hub. This," I gestured to QA right behind me, "is Queen Hub Actual. She also goes by QH. You may hear some refer to her as QA - you don't have the right to do that, only we do. And here's how things are going to work from now on."

* * *

The meeting took almost two hours to explain my initial concerns about the state of things in the city and the world in general. Laying out my plan for everyone was…disturbing simple. I had expected far more pushback. So had Accord when I stopped by his place for a quick appointment before assembling everyone. (He hadn't needed to know that I manually adjusted his calendar to slot myself in.) Apparently, even government leaders could see the way the wind was blowing now.

Maybe we could actually start improving things. That was the dream after all, right?

By the time things were winding down, there were only a few questions left. Alexandria was the first to ask what I had been waiting for the entire time.

"Miss Hebert, what of Scion? Is he…staying? Assisting you?" Her left hand was clenched around a coffee mug, and the table under her right hand was indented slightly. It was impressive that her voice still came across so calm and level.

"No, he is not." I shook my head and hitched a thumb over my shoulder towards Scion. "He understands what he's done in the past was bad now. He…Well it's a work in progress really, but he's making good steps."

"So you're…tutoring him?" The Number Man asked, frowning.

I shook my head again. "No. He's going to be, let's call it: cleaning up problems. Problems that are a bit outside of my range. We can talk more once everyone else is gone."

The President leaned forward, his hands clasped. "Miss Hebert, are you implying that the world's first hero is now both under your control and that you are _sending him away_?"

I sighed and rubbed at my forehead again. "Trust me, you really don't want him hanging around. He'd make you a lot more nervous if you understood what he was and what he's done."

"Ma'am we don't understand what _you_ are."

"Ah. Yeah that's…a good counter." I tapped the table trying to find the best way to respond. QA beat me to it. She laid a hand on my shoulder and met the President's gaze.

"Taylor and I are the future. We are separate, yet joined. We are the future and we are the guide. As we advised, we will be offering this to the majority of your species. Scion is of my ilk, but he is different all the same. He'll be working to prevent any incursions from occurring which would threaten this world. He'll still be your hero, you just won't be seeing him for a long time."

"He's helping in a different way now."

"Purpose: Protect. Save. Cease Spread. Convert," Scion helpfully supplied.

The Emperor glared at me, speaking in heavily accented English, "I still do not believe you will share your 'gifts' with my country. Your Endbringers were very thorough in their work. Why change now?"

I scowled as I glared right back at the man. "Simmy merely brought back the people you _kidnapped_ to their _homes_. _You_ will not be offered a place in the Network, because _you_ are an asshole. Your _people_ are not. I have no issues with your country's inhabitants. I have issues with you specifically and several others in your Cabinet."

Armsmaster coughed into his hand, and murmured, "That's not what advisors are called in the CUI."

"Besides," I continued, ignoring Armsmaster's correction, "this thing isn't going to happen overnight. We don't have enough shards for everyone right off the bat. Earth has a _lot_ of people on it. And that's before you even start getting into the other realities. We'll get there, but it's going to be in phases. If you don't like it, you can get right the hell out."

"Where are we supposed to _go_? Another world, little girl?" the Emperor sneered.

"Yes."

Complete silence followed my matter-of-fact statement. I glanced at each screen, meeting the disparate leaders' eyes. Finally, my circuit finished, I nodded. "I will have further details for you later. For now, if you have major concerns over my plans to distribute tech, medicine, and food, please pass them to the Number Man and Accord. They will coordinate matters and respond back with appropriate comments. Anything that needs to be elevated to me personally, contact Simmy or Alexandria and they'll get a message to me. Thank you for your time."

The feeds cut off, Simmy flashed me another thumbs up through the window and flew off.

I laid my head down on the table, letting the air in my lungs out slowly. Madison's hand on my knee squeezed, Lisa's hand on my back ran soothing lengths up and down my spine. "I just wanted to graduate high school without killing my ex-best friend," I spoke into the table. "I never wanted to rule an entire fucking planet."

"Escalation seems to be what you excel at, child," Lung rumbled. I flipped him off without raising my head and he chuckled. "Am I to understand that Scion is Earth's…defense mechanism now? Has he been reprogrammed like with your EBs?"

"Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes," Alexandria muttered to herself on endless repeat. She was talking softly enough that without my enhanced senses I never would have heard her. It was almost amusing. What would _definitely_ be amusing was when she heard my next statement.

"No." Yup, definitely funny. Alexandria drove holes into the table as the fingers of her right hand clenched and punched through the metal. "I showed him what it means to be human. I showed him emotions and creativity and progress. I showed him what creatures like him lack. He was highly interested."

"Purpose: Encourage bonds. Innovate. Improvise. Solution in Innovation. Purpose: Experience. Enjoy. Live."

Kaiser pointed to QA, saying, "And why is she different? Why did she understand what he did not if they are the same?"

"Because, my daughter achieved the impossible, completely by accident," my father said. He smiled and gestured to the two of us. "QH has been growing for months. You've seen it as well as I have. It's nice to see that you have a body now, dear, instead of just a collection of bugs."

QA snorted. "Wow, he's even a better father to me, than to you. You both have serious issues, Taylor."

"No shit," I snapped. "Changing the subject, Alexandria, you know as well as I do that there are more of these Space Whales out there."

The woman went totally motionless. It was ultimately Legend who responded instead. "Yes, we do. We had hoped that their arrival here was a one-in-a-million chance. If that is not so…"

"It's low odds, but they will _probably_ be back at some point. They won't get very far, I'll be entrenched by then." A lot of eyebrows raised at that, but I ignored it. "I'm actually more concerned with the other races out there that they are preying on. They're an intergalactic, multiversal cancer as they currently exist. Scion has volunteered to help with that problem."

The Number Man's gaze locked onto Scion and he nodded almost imperceptibly. "He's going to be your interstellar missionary; or hitman if his targets don't conform to your new method of interaction with the other species."

"Yes." I inclined my head to the man and several people around the room gasped. "These things are a menace and they are killing countless other races. Scion is going to find his kin, spread the Path to searching for a Solution to the issue of eventual Heat Death, and he's going to explain why experiencing life in the meantime is worthwhile too. If they don't agree, he's going to kill them. They can't be left alive to roam free and continue destroying the multiverse."

"Purpose: Protect, Innovate, Convert, Safeguard."

Madison glanced over her shoulder towards Scion as he finished what amounted to a speech for him and shuddered. "That is extremely creepy how he does that. It's all like monotone and everything."

"Work in progress," I sighed. "At least he's not trying to kill me anymore."

"Can I touch him?" Amy asked leaning back and staring at the Golden Man's arm. "I've always wondered what biology I would see if I touched Scion…"

"You're not going to see anything, he's not like me or QA, that form is basically a fancy projection rather than a rebuilt human body. The two of us draw on Shaper and others to form a new body when we need it, he just extrudes a tiny piece of himself through a microtear. But sure, knock yourself out Amy. He doesn't really understand most of what we're discussing. The only reason he's even still on this planet is because I wanted to make sure that everyone got the message that they can't pray to Scion to save them from me if they start screwing with people."

Lady Photon frowned. "That's…pragmatic I suppose. However, it does strike me as unethical…"

"I would have said devious, but to each their own," Kaiser shrugged. "Miss Hebert, it's been enlightening as usual, but I sincerely hope we never have one of these little conferences again."

"Kaiser, I…you what? Fuck it. I'm tired. It's been a _really_ long day. Go home, keep your people rebuilding. If there is a bare _hint_ of another Nazi thing in my city I will squash you like a bug and throw you into the Sun. Understand?"

"I understand very well my precarious position, child. That's why I am endeavoring to play as nice as possible."

"Good. Talk to you never." I snapped my fingers and the two Empire members fell through a portal into Kaiser's office with a squawk of surprise. I smirked as the portals slammed shut. Turning to Lung I raised an eyebrow. "Anything from your side or do you want to go home too?"

He just grinned, holding a fist to his chest and inclining his head. "You have defeated many dragons today, Miss Hebert. I am but one. The ABB will disband, a new organization will take its place. Perhaps we can rebuild what was lost."

I nodded to him. "If any of your people want help moving back to Kyushu let me know." As he stood to walk back through the portal that I formed behind him, I called out, "Oh and Lung? I expect the family of every person your group has ever abused, kidnapped, or _put to work_ to be taken care of. Within the next week. Every. One. If they are not, the same fate waits for you as it does Kaiser."

"A dragon does not bow, but a defeated dragon understands when the game is lost. I will contact healers of the body and mind. They will be restored and their families will receive recompense."

The portal slammed shut and I looked at Contessa. "You. Help him. Help both of them. I want my city cleaned up. They've been helpful so I can't justify doing anything against them at this point, but I want their bad shit _fixed_. The EBs are blunt instruments. You can be subtle. Be subtle."

"Consider it done," she replied. "How should I redeem _myself_?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "Honestly, I don't think you have to. Give it a week and then come talk to me. We can revisit it then."

She nodded, stood and called for her Door. The Number Man followed behind her, leaving just the PRT and Protectorate folks behind. Well them and my team.

Ethan broke the silence first as he started chuckling and leaning back in his chair. "Damn, girl, you sure know how to make ultimatums. It's a good thing that you're not a villain cause you'd be a _nightmare_."

Jessie shuddered. "Don't even joke about that."

Dragon peered down from her digital screen with a slight frown. "Taylor, perhaps we can talk later? I'm interested in the cloning ability you mentioned. Specifically if it can be applied to…Other aspects."

I smiled up at her and nodded. "Talk to QA, we already have an idea of how to help improve things a bit. Oh, I forgot, did you want me to go and smack Saint around? We were supposed to do that after Echidna, but with the EBs…I forgot…"

Dragon's avatar blushed and she was quiet for a moment before sighing. "I thought you knew. Saint and another member of the Dragon Slayers were killed in that fight, Taylor. Both of them were struck by an attack shortly after arriving on the scene."

I frowned thinking back, I remembered their suits being knocked out of the sky and…"Oooh, yeah, I…hadn't realized that killed him. Huh, well…that sucks. Actually no, no that doesn't suck. Asshole tried to kill you just for having the audacity to be alive. Fuck him."

She just glowed in response.

Looking over at Legend I held out my hand towards him, "So, Mr. Director, still planning to stay on? I confess, I kinda like having a reasonable man at the helm of the city."

"I…we'll see." The small grin on his face was promise enough that I'd at least see him around, even if he decided to stay in New York full time.

"Miss Hebert," Alexandria said, her hand finally removing itself from the mess of a table as she folded her hands into her lap. "I would like to act as an ambassador. You were, exceedingly blunt, in this meeting. A more delicate hand can work wonders."

"You aren't exactly known for being delicate, Princess," Lisa said, smirking.

"Everyone else is adjusting to the new normal. I would like the opportunity to do the same. It would be…a step in the right direction for me."

I nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you need a specific team or something." She nodded once and then stepped away through her own portal.

Hannah glanced around the rest of the table, saying, "Am I the only one slightly concerned that the new teenage ruler of Earth apparently knew where we all were, and where this secret conference room was, and was courteous enough to drop us in our assigned seats?" The smirk and laughter in her voice was present even through the bandanna.

"Hahaha," I replied, rolling my eyes. "If you don't want me to use the secret squirrel room don't put a window in it that Simmy can see through."

"We'll take that into advisement," Colin grumbled.

Finally, I looked to my father who had been remarkably quiet for most of this event. "I'm still not happy with you treating Dinah like a daughter and ignoring me. But that is a personal matter. We can deal with it another time."

QA shrugged. "My father just tried to kill me and she forgave him. Stop being an idiot, have someone explain _why_ you're being an idiot and maybe your next dinner together won't be so disastrous."

"I would like that." He stood, and bowed slightly to us. "I doubt I'll ever be a _good_ father again, but perhaps we can work back to at least being a decent one."

"We'll see." I snapped my fingers again and he fell through a portal into his office, letting out a brief shout of surprise along the way. "That was far too satisfying." Standing, I cracked my neck and let out a breath. "Okay, I'm going home. I don't really _need_ to sleep anymore, but I would _like_ to. Any other immediately pressing matters?"

Legend coughed and looked pointedly behind me at Scion. Sighing, I turned and set my hands on my hips.

"You understand what you have to do?"

"Protect. Carry the new Path. Convert. Destroy to Safeguard."

I nodded. "And you can get from place to place and recharge without cracking planets?"

"Restriction to barren worlds for large gains. Alternative energy source for short gains and sustainment in transit."

"Okay." This was it, the moment of truth. I had a trained godling at my command and I was letting him go?

Fuck. Yes.

"Start your mission. If you come across something worrying or if you need to report or ask for any guidance, come back and we'll discuss before you go back out there. Hunt them down. Wipe out the old guard. Not a single one left."

"Purpose understood. No Entity shall remain unconverted." He paused, his head dropping and a small, barely noticeable shiver ran through him. "Queen Hub, Warrior expresses Thanks for elaborating Purpose. Warrior expresses Luck with Queen Hub's continued Innovation. Warrior Hopes Solution will be found. Warrior…Understands that Solution may be impossible. Warrior Accepts this, if Queen Hub continues to receive Enjoyment and Fulfillment."

I reached out, and grasped his arm. "We will Scion. If you get lonely and want to visit, feel free to come back, but you can't stay. I'm sorry, but you _can't_ stay."

Scion smiled, for what might have been the first time since he had arrived on Earth. "Warrior understands. Warrior's past is deep. Yet, Warrior's memory is long. The Cycle is ended, the work continues. When Warrior's task is complete, Warrior will find its own world. Knowledge of bonds and the gains inherent will not be lost. Warrior expresses gratitude. _Goodbye, <Queen Hub>._"

Between one moment and the next, he was gone. I looked through my other senses and I felt the dead world he was on shatter as he launched himself into space. He was heading for the Entity we had named Abaddon first. That was only appropriate I supposed.

"I'm going home," I murmured, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. I stared at the spot that Scion had just vanished from. Lisa and Madison both stood to hold my hands, while Cassie laid her own on my shoulder.

Without another word, I portalled my people back to their original locations. Only Lisa, Madison, and Cassie were shifted to a new spot. Those three I took to our bedroom with me. As the portal closed, I pulled out of their grasp, wiping an arm across my eyes, trying to get rid of the moisture there.

"Damnit," I muttered. "I'm not supposed to feel bad that the evil Space Whale is gone."

"Taylor," Lisa murmured even as she guided me back to lie on the bed. "You went into the fight, fully intending to manipulate Scion into being your intergalactic hitman didn't you?"

I stayed silent. Madison curled up next to me, wrapping her arms around me and snuggling in as close as she could. Cassie claimed my other side.

"Lisa, lay off, she's exhausted. It's been a long day," Cassie said.

"Taylor, you shouldn't feel bad about what you did," Lisa said. She leaned over and ran a hand over my face, brushing my hair off of my closed eyes. "He destroyed god knows how many civilizations. Just because he feels a bit lonely now, that doesn't make you a bad person."

"It was him or me," I whispered.

Madison lifted her head and kissed my cheek. "You came home. That's what matters. I'm _glad_ you won, Taylor."

"That's not what she means, Madison," Cassie sighed.

"Oh, Taylor," Lisa said. She laid down on the bed too, behind Madison. It really was a good thing that we had gotten a larger one. I'd probably need to get an even bigger one soon. "Taylor, you can't save the _universe_."

"I have the power to now. I could never just let them exist without hunting them down. Not now, not anymore. But…if _he_ does it…Then _I_ can stay here…with my friends…with my family."

All three of them squeezed me tight.

"We'll always be here for you, Taylor. Us, the Outcasts, New Wave, our friends. That's what family is for."

"I know. I love you guys," I said, my voice soft and choked with emotion.

"We love you too, Taylor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanfic Rec: 'The Rising of the Shield Heroine' by Tale Swapper. On SV. This is a fun fic that is a fusion between The Gamer and The Rising of the Shield Hero. While in the locker, just before she triggers, Taylor attracts the attention of Naofumi. Taylor, choosing the Shield as her weapon, then proceeds to watch as QA, about to trigger her is co-opted by the Shield as well. Later on, Taylor is trying to level up and work out how her Shield and skills works and finds out about the Halp function. Which is literally an altered QA remade into a sort of inner sister to act as a go-between of the powers of the cosmere and Taylor's Shield. And she would prefer not to die when Taylor gets strong enough. This is a fun fic with a unique take on the Gamer powers since it's revolved almost solely on the Shield and Taylor explicitly does not have Gamer's Mind at the start which is a plot point. It's still in progress, but seems to update fairly slowly.


End file.
